


My Friend Loki: Strange Magic

by Masada42



Series: My Friend Loki [2]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: After Party, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Boats and Ships, Celebrities, Children, Christmas, F/M, Gen, Horseback Riding, Injury, Kamar-Taj (Marvel), Magic, New York, Orphanage, Redemption, Sanctum Sanctorum (Marvel), Stan Lee Cameo, Tourism, corn maze, farm, times square
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-25 11:21:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 51,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22431469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Masada42/pseuds/Masada42
Summary: The sequel to "My Friend Loki: The Price You Pay."Loki's friend has vacation plans that soon get scuttled, forcing them to take a staycation.  While contemplating their options, a certain Mystic Master shows up, asking them for their assistance which brings Loki and his friend together.They learn about an upcoming event that causes Loki to second guess himself, but his friend comes up with an idea that might just help resolve Loki's troubles.Adventures in New York ensue, with our friends running into some familiar faces, dealing with their inner child - and making a difference.[Originally published May 7 2019 on Wattpad]
Relationships: Loki & Thor (Marvel), Loki & Tony Stark, Loki (Marvel) & Original Female Character(s), Phil Coulson & Loki
Series: My Friend Loki [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1614247
Kudos: 4





	1. Enter Strange

**Author's Note:**

> When I originally posted this story on Wattpad, I was able to add pictures, graphics and video. This application only allows text, but the written word should still suffice, and... sometimes it's better to use your imagination!

Booking off some well-deserved vacation time from my workplace, I had made plans with a friend to go to New York. It was a place I had never been and was very excited to make the trip to see the sights, sample the traditional foods, and take in the culture.

However, a week before we were supposed to depart, a serious medical emergency on my friend's part put a kibosh on the trip. It was an awful feeling worrying about my friend, coupled with the disappointment of the abrupt change in plans.

At least it was heartening to learn that they would recover and their family would take care of them for the duration of that process.

They would also get a full refund on their airline ticket due to their medical issue.

Unfortunately, for me, I was uncomfortable to go on this trip alone, so for a certain fee, I was able to change my ticket for another time.

A part of me had considered calling on another friend...  


However, I had not heard back from them for quite a while. A lack of communication was not an error on their part, it simply meant they were busy working on a special assignment. Nevertheless, with the passage of time, I missed them dearly.

I resigned myself that this was now going to be a 'staycation,' and tried to think of the things I could do to make the days just as fun as being in New York.

There wasn't a lot that came to mind...

I decided the best thing I could do, for now, is go to my local deli to get a corned beef sandwich and figure it out from there. Putting on my jacket, and making sure I had everything I needed in my pockets, I was ready to leave my home...

When suddenly I heard someone knock on my door.

I wasn't expecting anyone.

Going over to the door, I asked, "who is it?"

"Doctor Stephen Strange," a voice said from behind the door.

Doctor Strange?

I recalled that was the name of the person Thor had contacted with his cell phone some time ago. He had opened up a portal that took us to that auxiliary SHIELD facility to...

Oh no...

I opened the door immediately, praying that my mischievous friend was not yet again in serious trouble.

I was awed and a little taken aback by the sight of the distinguished man in my doorway. He cut a fine figure with his dark hair, handsome features along with sporting a blue tunic/shirt, dark pants and red cape.

"Y-you're..." I took a deep breath, "Doctor Strange?" I said, not able to contain my wonderment.

"Yes, and I believe you are Beverlee... Loki's friend?" he asked.

"Yes, yes I am," I replied with a hint of pride.

"May I come in?"

"Of course," I said, showing him in and closing the door, "with you being here, I can only imagine that my... friend... is in another predicament?" I led him to the couch and we both sat down.

"You could say that," Strange said. "Thor Odinson came to see me recently and we had a very engaging discussion about you."

"Did you now?" I said in a curious tone. "What about me would be so interesting to discuss?"

"Among other things, your friendship with Loki, of course."

"And...?" I wasn't going to make this a guessing game. What was he trying to convey?

"I keep a watch list of individuals and beings from other realms that may be a threat to this world. Your friend is one of those beings."

"Maybe years ago he was," I said, my voice thoughtful, "but not anymore. As you must know, he's part of a new initiative, making the world a better place."

"That I am. Thor tells me that you are calming influence on him and are able to reach him in ways that others can't."

"Well... I don't know about that," I said, trying not to sound presumptuous. "I simply treat him with respect and offer compassion when he needs it and... well, he really does need it. He's been through so much and many still want to hurt him because they don't understand... or don't want to understand that fact."

"Funny you should say that," Strange said. "Because right now, Loki is embroiled in a scuffle in a bar in Soho..."

"What? He wouldn't do that!" I said in defence of my friend. "He's very aware of his probation and what would happen if he broke it. Let alone that... awful tracker... they would find him immediately if he did anything..."

"You know your friend well," Strange said, sounding impressed. "You are correct. He did not start it."

"That's good to hear," I said, not realizing how upset I had become. "Wait a minute. How do you know what Loki is doing at this very moment?"

"I am a Master in the Mystic Arts," he said matter-of-fact. "I am privy to things others would not be aware."

"Then, are you aware of why he is even there?"

"Alas, of all things, that is the mystery, Beverlee. I hope you can discover for Loki's sake."

"But, you said he didn't start the fight? That would normally mean he isn't in trouble."

"Not in trouble as such, but because of who he is, he really shouldn't be there. At least not by himself."

I took a moment to think about what this Mystic Arts Master just said. Once it began to sink in, I realized his logic was undeniably damning.

"Okay," I said with a sigh, trying to wrap my head around this, "but, if you're here and he's there..?"

"I'm here because the first time Loki and I met, it... wasn't under the best circumstances. If he sees me, I suspect he will not respond well to my offer of help. Therefore, the best course of action would be to get you - to make sure he can be extracted from the situation with the least amount of hassle."

"You met Loki before?! What happened?" I asked, unable to contain my curiosity.

"That is a story for another time," Strange firmly replied.

"Well, you are very kind, Doctor Strange, to help him like this," I said.

"It's not kindness," Strange clarified. "While Loki remains on Earth, it's simply my job to supervise and police his activities as needed."

"You're... not going to hurt him, are you?" I asked with concern.

"I have no intention of doing so if he cooperates."

"In that case," I said, "tell me what I need to do."


	2. Soho To Sanctum

Doctor Strange opened a portal that deposited us into an alleyway beside the bar.

"Are you ready?" Strange asked.

"As I'll ever be," I replied, feeling a tad nervous. "I sure hope this plan is just as easy to execute as we discussed."

I can do this, I said to myself and took a deep breath.

Before entering the establishment, I took note of the sign above the door. The place was called "Joe Friday's."

Pushing the door open, as I followed Doctor Strange inside, I was relieved to find it did not have a bell or some other device that made noise to alert the entrance of a patron.

My breath caught in my throat as my eyes immediately noticed the condition of the interior. There was major damage; broken chairs, knocked over tables, some shattered glasses and plates. The main bar that showcased a variety of several expensive bottles of alcohol was also smashed.

Then I noticed that there was a man lying on the floor, unconscious.

No wait - make that two, as another man soon fell to the ground near the other.

What the hell?

Sitting at their tables, with some cowering under them, patrons were staring in a certain direction...

Turning to look in that direction, I saw my friend... and gasped.

With a sardonic laugh and a menacing expression, Loki had a large man pressed up against a wall and kept him immobile holding - and squeezing - his jaw with one hand.

Seeing what was going on in front of me was hard to process. Admittedly, along with Loki being part of that new initiative, I was aware that he was a warrior like Thor - but there's quite the difference between hearing about such altercations and actually witnessing them.

Patrons were trying to get our attention, gesticulating to not interfere, but I waved and shook my head in a manner to indicate that I was fine.

Strange just ignored them.

Then I heard someone say my name.

Suddenly I remembered - Loki's 'radar!' He had the ability to sense I was in his presence.

Whatever Strange and I had planned, it looked like this might go easier than we expected.

I walked up closer to Loki and the poor ignoramus that he held fast. The last thing I wanted to do was have my friend lose his focus and have this person turn things around on him, although I could see Loki did have things well in hand.

"Beverlee?!" Loki asked in an astonished voice, to which I nodded, "how... why?"

"I could ask the same of you, my friend, but that's not important right now," I said quickly, knowing we didn't have much time.

"This-this isn't me," Loki said apprehensively, his eyes anxious. "This isn't what it looks like."

"It's okay, Loki," I said soothingly. "I know this wasn't you." I looked at the man who was restrained then looked back at my friend. "The owner has called the authorities, I need to get you out of here before they arrive."

"But... I was defending myself. Even my probation allows for this," Loki said, giving me a look for clarification.

"Loki," I said, "you shouldn't be here in the first place. Come on, let's go."

Another voice then spoke, making us both turn out heads.

"Listen to your friend, Loki," it was Doctor Strange. "So I can fix this damage."

Damn, I said to myself. If Strange had just kept silent, this would have gone a lot more smoothly. Speaking of Strange, I noticed Loki's 'radar' had not picked up on the Mystic Arts Master. At the moment though, I had no time to dwell on this.

Seeing who it was, Loki looked back at me with a pained expression, "you're with... him?"

"No, Loki," I said defensively, "I'm not with him..." I closed my eyes briefly in frustration and sighed, "okay, I'm with him - but only to get you out of here."

"So he can make me fall again endlessly?" Loki said in a tone of irritation, "no thanks."

"Loki, we don't have time for this!" I said, not understanding what he meant. "Please, trust me, we can talk all about it once we get out of here." I looked into his eyes, "please, we have to hurry."

My friend now looked at the man he held captive, then looked at me.

"Go ahead," I said encouragingly, gesturing in reference to the man. "You have to finish what you started."

THUMP!

The man was now on the floor, slumped over and unconscious like the other two. There was also an indentation in the wall where the man's head impacted with the drywall.

I looked at my friend.

"Well done," I said with a wry smile.

It seems I wasn't the only one with that opinion, as the patrons began to clap with approval.

"Both of you better get out of here right now!" Strange said, his hands now in a conjuring mode.

Hearing sirens in the distance, Loki I looked at each other then we immediately ran out of the bar. Luckily, it was only a short distance to get back into the alleyway. From there, we found an alcove with recessed doors and hid within it, to make sure we were unseen by traffic and passersby.

"That man...." Loki said in a tone of deep irritation.

"Doctor Strange?" I clarified. "He literally appeared on my doorstep. He asked for my help to get you out of that bar." I looked at my friend carefully, "he didn't believe you would be... cooperative doing it himself."

"He... was right," Loki scoffed.

From what I observed from my friend, what Doctor Strange said to me about their first encounter not being under the best circumstances was clearly evident. But this wasn't the proper time to ask about it, so I changed the subject.

"So... what was that all about in the bar?" I asked.

"They... didn't like my suit," Loki shrugged.

Looking closely at my friend's attire, I noticed his suit jacket was stained in various places - most likely those goons must have poured their drinks on it. Asides from that, it was a stylish outfit, but then I already knew Loki had good taste in clothes.

"Well, I like it," I smiled at him. "What would those brutes know about fashion anyway?"

Loki chuckled then gave me a warm smile, "come here," he said, pulling me into a hug. "I missed you," he said softly. I felt him lightly kiss the top of my head.

"I missed you too," I hugged him a little tighter.

"Am I interrupting?" someone said with a combination of amusement and annoyance.

We both turned toward the voice. 

It was Doctor Strange, with his arms folded, waiting.

Flashing a disarming smile, I explained, "umm, sorry, we haven't seen each other in about a month." However, neither of us let go of each other. "That was quick. You were able to..?" I started to ask Doctor Strange.

"Yes. I was able to reverse the events," he said. "The fight in the bar never happened, so no damage to the establishment and the authorities were never contacted."

"Doctor Strange," Loki spoke slowly, with a tone of trepidation. "I-I... am grateful for your actions," he looked at Strange carefully, "but... why?"

"The Gershwins Loki," Strange replied, looking at me for a moment. "Because of George and Ira Gershwin, nineteen twenty-six."

Loki was perplexed by that answer, and so was I - but Doctor Strange said nothing more.

Suddenly we saw, walking by the alley, the man whom Loki had knocked out before we had exited the bar accompanied by two other men, which were the ones I had seen unconscious on the floor. They briefly looked at us then continued on their way.

"Well, that looks like all the proof we need," I said, looking at Strange. "Now what?"

Strange opened up another portal, but instead of us walking through it, with his hands he pushed the portal to envelop us...

No longer were we in the alley - we were now in some ornate mansion which featured a grand staircase that was located in the middle of the room.

"Welcome to the New York Sanctum," Doctor Strange said.


	3. Accommodations For Two

Doctor Strange had transported us through yet another portal to a location in New York he called the 'Sanctum.'

Through the transport, Loki and I had still been holding on to each other. When we arrived at the Sanctum, suddenly I felt Loki's embrace around me tighten. I wasn't sure if it was from distress or displeasure. Briefly looking at him, I then turned to face Strange.

"It's so... exquisite," I said, taking in everything I saw around me. "Would we be able to have a tour of the place?"

Strange sighed, "it's late. I better send you home now, Beverlee." His hands began to make its usual motions for opening a portal...

"Wait!" I said, perhaps a bit too loud. I slowly withdrew from Loki's embrace, and walked toward Strange. "I'm in New York. A place a plane would have taken me tomorrow had my plans not been hijacked by circumstances beyond my control," I took a deep breath. "Is there some way I could stay here for a bit longer?" I looked at my friend. "I'd like to be able to spend some time with you as well - we need to catch-up."

"Well," Doctor Strange said, his voice a bit begrudging, "it would be nice to have some company for a short while." He then looked at Loki, "if that initiative doesn't have you currently on assignment, you are also welcome to stay here with Beverlee."

Loki walked over to me and took my hands, interlacing them in our special way, "a rare opportunity to spend time with you?" he smiled. "I couldn't possibly turn that down." He then turned to Strange, "I'm not on any assignments at this time. So I accept your kind invitation."

However, I could tell something was wrong by the look in my friend's eyes, albeit subtle.

"All right then," Strange said. "I'll show you to your accommodations. If you need anything just don't hesitate to ask."

All of sudden, I was in another room, which looked like a bedroom...

But Loki wasn't with me.

What's going on here?

"Loki?" I called out.

There was no answer.

I soon heard a muffled sound nearby, then what seemed like a banging noise - also muffled. Disseminating where this was coming from, I walked in that direction, and the noise got louder.

Discovering a connecting door, I had a good feeling of what, or should I say who, was behind it.

The door seemed stuck when I pulled on the handle. Whether it was due to humidity, loose hinges or otherwise, I wasn't about to give up that easily. After several attempts, I put all my remaining strength into it. The door finally opened -

\- then promptly broke off from its hinges and crashed to the floor!

Shocked at what had just happened - and amazed I was able to move out of the way when it did - I turned back to the open doorway.

Loki was standing in the threshold.

Smiling with a sigh of relief that I found him, no sooner had I done so, Loki took my hand and pulled me inside his room. He then kicked his door shut in frustration.

The room was dark, but streetlamps and building lights illuminated through the windows. The dim lighting gave the room a certain ambiance.

"Are you all right?" he asked, grasping my shoulders.

Unsure what to say, I simply nodded.

"I-I thought he was pulling another trick on me again," Loki said, his voice unsettled.

"What trick?" I asked, very confused.

"Beverlee, I'm not sure if we should stay here," he whispered.

"Loki, at the moment, we couldn't be in a safer place."

"Yes, safe from the outside world," Loki said, then swallowed hard, "but not from... him." He looked apprehensively at the door he had shut, "he has the power to make my stay very unpleasant."

"Easy," I said, trying to calm him, I could sense he was highly distressed. "Doctor Strange specifically helped to get you out of that bad situation. He openly invited you to stay with me. Why would you think he would plan to do you any harm?"

Surveying this bedroom, asides from one chair, the only other place that one could sit was the bed. I gestured for Loki to follow me to it.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, I continued, "Loki, talk to me. Tell me what happened when you first met... did he hurt you?"

"He... humiliated me," he whispered, briefly closing his eyes.

"How?"

"A while back, Thor and I went to New York to locate Odin. Strange kidnapped me. He had me falling for thirty minutes in some pocket dimension. It was only after Thor and Strange were finished their meeting that I was 'released' or should actually say 'dropped' to the floor. I was already agitated and angry. Before I could make any real contact with him, he had swept us away through another portal."

"That's terrible... and mean," I said, giving him a sympathetic look. I was not happy hearing about the lack of action from Thor and Strange doing this to my friend. I touched his arm, "no wonder you're feeling uncomfortable here." I thought for a moment, and looked at Loki closely, "Doctor Strange did tell me something I think you should know."

Loki looked at me expectantly.

"He said," I spoke slowly, "that you were on a watch list of beings that may be a threat to this world."

"What?" Loki said, his voice full of disbelief, "maybe years ago I was a worthy inclusion, but now..."

"That's what I said!" I replied in a similar tone. "It looks like you have your work cut out for you."

"I'm already on probation with SHIELD and a member of the Initiative," Loki scoffed. "I-I don't have to prove myself to the likes of him!"

"Hey, that's not what I meant," I tried to soothe, then put my arm around him. "I'm simply saying that Doctor Strange doesn't know you. While I don't at all condone that jerk move he pulled, it does in some way explain his actions. Who knows if he even has a standard procedure to follow when these 'listed beings' appear on Earth?"

"Those are points definitely to consider," Loki said, nodding, "but had he not done what he did, and originally brought me here with Thor, he would have known I was no threat to him." He sighed, "in time, I hope he can see who I am instead of what he thinks I am or was."

"Don't worry," I said giving him a smile, "we will find a way."

"We?" he asked curiously, with an odd smile.

"Yes, we," I confirmed, "it's yet another aspect of that 'Friendship Agreement.'"

Loki chuckled, then let out a small yawn.

"Come on," I said, "we both need to get some sleep. It's going to be a busy day tomorrow."

"But what about... Doctor Strange?" Loki asked anxiously.

"Well, I can't allow him to flex his mystic muscles on you," I said. "How about we keep that door open? I'll be able to hear you call out if anything happens."

Loki looked at me with a soft smile and sighed, then took my hand.

"How is it that you know exactly what to say - and do - that makes me feel better?" he asked.

"Well, you have your powers, Loki... I.... have mine," I replied, returning his smile.


	4. What Really Happened In Soho

While getting ready for bed, I heard Loki call out from his room.

"Beverlee, did you bring your device?"

"Yes, Loki, I did."

Smiling to myself, I knew where this was leading, but it was perfectly fine.

"May I listen to some of the selections on my playlist?" he asked.

The last time Loki and I were together, I had an opportunity to teach him how to use my smartphone and it eventually led to us discussing music. I learned that Loki really enjoyed listening to music from Midgard - well who could blame him, especially when he came from a place that didn't offer such various genres? In turn, it led me to create a specific playlist for him.

Even with keeping the adjoining doors open (well his anyway, as mine was still on the floor), I suspected Loki's request meant he still harboured some anxiety. Knowing that listening to music would help alleviate his mindset, I grabbed my smartphone and carefully wrapped my earbuds cord around it.

Walking into his bedroom, I saw he was sitting up in bed. I tossed the phone over to him - he caught it with one hand.

"Thank you, Beverlee," he smiled and started to unwrap the earbud cord.

Returning his smile, I was about to go back into my room but stopped. Instead, I walked over to Loki's bed, sitting on the edge beside him.

Something Doctor Stephen Strange said earlier was now bothering me...

"What is it?" Loki asked, looking at me curiously.

"Loki," I said, hesitant, "I need to know something."

My friend gestured with his eyes to go ahead with my request.

"What were you really doing in that bar?" I asked.

He seemed taken aback by my question.

"I-I wanted a drink," Loki said shyly, looking downward.

"You could buy alcohol anywhere, my friend."

Beholding an expression of uneasiness, Loki looked away, thinking. After a moment, he again met my gaze.

"I... wanted to pay tribute to her," Loki said, his voice still quiet.

"Tribute to...?"

"My mother... my adoptive mother, that is," Loki said, swallowing hard. "It was around this time she..."

Loki didn't finish. He didn't have to, because he had told me about his adoptive mother at a time when I had learned one of my uncles had passed. We both had gone to a licensed establishment, had a few drinks and commiserated with each other.

Loki's sad expression on his face made him look very fragile. I reached out and pulled him into a hug. He didn't resist, and his arms came around me quickly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked in a whisper.

"I didn't... want to be a bother."

"Loki," I said gently, "believe me, you're never a bother." I hugged him a bit closer, "if you need me, I'm here for you. There are no strings attached." I released the hug a bit so I could look at him. Freeing one of my arms, I reached up to brush a few stray locks of his dark hair away from his face. "Tell me, how did the fight start? Yes, I know your suit may have played a factor, but... I suspect there is more to this."

"My clever girl," Loki said with a bittersweet smile, "you are correct." Fully releasing the hug, save for holding my hand, he explained, "I was drawn to enter the establishment when I saw the name of it. As I was having my drink in a quiet corner, suddenly, right before my eyes, I saw a man at another table disrespect a lady. I felt I had to do something..." he reached out with his other hand to briefly touch my cheek, "I mean, what if that had been you, Beverlee? I couldn't let that brute get away with that. I assessed the situation, and made my move." Loki pursed his lips, and a thoughtful look came to his face, "I just didn't realize that he had two friends with him. Luckily, they were no match for me."

Damn, I said silently to myself, Doctor Strange was right.

I looked at Loki with a sympathetic expression.

"What?" my friend asked upon seeing the look on my face, "was it not right of me to defend the lady's honour?"

I swallowed hard, not quite sure how to explain what I needed to tell him. I would have to be delicate. The last thing I wanted was for him to feel rankled, but I had to make him understand.

"Your actions were gallant and chivalrous, you had your heart in the right place..." I said, again hesitant.

"But..?" Loki asked.

I smirked. It was a blessing and a curse he was so perceptive.

"As you are very aware, hands down, you are much stronger than any Midgardian. Those men had no clue they didn't stand a chance against you," I said.

"When it comes to battle strategy, is it not the adage here, 'a good defence is a strong offence?'" Loki asked, concern in his voice.

"In battle, yes, I would concur with you," I said, carefully choosing my next words, "but this was... a bar. Despite Doctor Strange being able to reverse events, you were lucky that you simply knocked out those men and didn't leave them with other serious injuries."

"Beverlee, you make it sound like I don't know my own strength. I'm aware of the fragility of Midgardians and how much force I need to use when necessary."

"I'm sure you do, my friend. However, when it comes to Human nature... and I also suspect Frost Giant nature, things can go awry. There can be certain variables that can make things escalate and cause... accidents... to happen." I took both his hands and held them, "promise me you won't do this again, it would kill me if you became the cause of one."

"Are you saying I cannot act when help is required?"

"Not at all," I smiled with a glint in my eye. "Loki, you are the God of Mischief. Asides from what you are instructed to do on assignments from the Initiative, I simply suggest you deal with these... miscreants... more craftily." I took a deep breath, "do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes," he said. He took my hands and kissed them, "how you continue to go out of your way to look out for my safety and protect me - even from myself..."

With a broad smile, I said, "it's all part of the..."

"'Friendship Agreement?'" Loki finished for me, smiling.

Releasing our hands, I stood from the bed and began to walk back toward my room. As I reached the threshold of the adjoining doors, I turned around and playfully leaned on the door-frame.

"By the way," I said giving him a look of affection, "your mother... she would be proud of you."

"I hope so," Loki said quietly.

"Well, I know I am. Sweet dreams, Loki."

I then continued on to enter my bedroom to have some of my own.


	5. A Busy Night Followed By Bad News

I awoke to the sounds of audible moans and soft cries...

Sitting up, I listened for a moment, praying that the Sanctum wasn't haunted.

Then I realized what was the source.

It was coming from Loki's room.

Getting up and wrapping one of the blankets around myself, I walked into his room, stopping by his bed. Upon observation, asides from the uneasy sounds he was making, he had a look of deep concern on his face.

Loki was having a nightmare.

Could this be the handiwork of Doctor Strange?

I dismissed the thought as soon as I had it. Even I couldn't imagine the Master of Mystic Arts being so cruel as to do this to my friend.

Besides, Loki already had enough of his own demons in which to contend.

Although I wanted to wake Loki up and tell him everything was okay, I knew that unless he was hurting himself in some capacity, he would eventually come out of it naturally. In addition, because I was aware of his deftness at defending himself, I dared not touch him.

Feeling helpless, I soon found myself pulling up the chair that was in the room closer to the bed, then curled up in it. I had a notion that being in closer proximity might alleviate his nightmare that much faster.

"It's okay, Loki," I whispered, "I'm here."

Closing my eyes, I attempted to will happy thoughts to him. Then I fell asleep...

Slowly I awakened to the morning sun brightly shining through the window. I stretched and yawned, then took a look at my companion. He was still asleep.

Spotting my smartphone and earbud cord on the nightstand, I picked them up and quietly walked back to my room. Locating a power outlet, I took my charger cable from my jacket pocket, connected it to my smartphone then plugged in the adapter. I noticed the battery was at 57% power.

I decided to get refreshed and dressed. By the time I was done, my smartphone was fully charged.

Following that, I made my way back into Loki's room.

He looked so innocent and very relaxed. I smiled, considering the thought that whatever he felt with his radar regarding myself, he had resolved I was not a threat, so he could continue his slumber.

With such a visage, I couldn't help but lean forward - and lightly kissed his forehead. As I moved back, I noticed a small smile appear on his lips. His eyes opened sleepily.

"Mmm, that felt nice," Loki said in a sleepy voice.

"I didn't mean to wake you..." I started to say.

"It's okay," he said, "and... I'm still here." He reached out his hand to grasp mine, "thank you."

"No thanks are necessary," I said, taking his hand then kneeling by his bedside. Giving him a warm smile, I added, "and I'm glad you still are." I looked at him carefully, "do you want to still sleep? I was thinking of finding a place for us to go for breakfast."

"Pancakes?" Loki asked.

"Perhaps," I said in a tone of amusement, "it depends on what we can find." With my free hand, I lightly stroked his inky tresses, concerned about what I was about to say next, "Loki, since Doctor Strange let us stay the night, I think it would be best if we..."

"Invited him for breakfast?" Loki finished for me.

I nodded.

"Why not?" Loki said, still in a sleepy tone. "Maybe with some bacon and eggs we can also convince that sorcerer I'm not so bad."

"Well, there is a saying on Midgard. 'Bacon... makes everything better.'"

Loki looked at me with an expression of mirth.

****

Knowing Loki needed time to get refreshed, I decided I would go find Doctor Strange. Asides from inviting him to breakfast, I also wanted to have a word with him.

However, since Strange had ported us to our rooms, I had no idea where in the Sanctum I was. No matter, I thought, I'll take a self-guided tour until eventually one of us finds each other.

In my search for Strange, I noticed at almost every turn, the Sanctum offered quite the display of antiques - artwork, armour, odd-looking weapons, along with some items I couldn't exactly figure out their purpose. It felt like I was inside a very unusual museum.

Soon, I began to hear voices in the vicinity, one of them sounding very much like Strange. I walked toward the sounds and found him in the next room...

Talking to Thor!

Standing in the doorway, I was unsure of what to do. I didn't want to interrupt their conversation. But from what I could observe though, it seemed to be a very intent one...

"Maybe you could permit them to stay here at least just for that night?" Thor asked of Strange. "Provided that Beverlee is available. I am quite sure she would be fine with keeping him company. It would also give me peace of mind."

"What if he resists the idea?" Strange countered.

"Then we'll go... somewhere else?" I suggested.

Thor and Strange turned their heads toward me.

"What's this all about, Thor Odinson?" I said, saying his last name with emphasis on the word 'son.'

"Beverlee!" Thor said, smiling. He walked up to me and gave me a hug. "It is good to see you again." Looking at Strange then back at me, he said, "I had contacted Doctor Strange to find out where you were, and it was quite the surprise to learn you were here with Loki."

"It was also quite a surprise to me! I still can't believe I'm here," I expressed with astonishment.

"Where is Loki?" Thor asked.

"He's just getting refreshed and will join us when he's ready," I replied. "He should be here soon. By the way..." taking a deep breath, I turned to face Doctor Strange with an expression that was apologetic, "last night, one of the connecting doors to our bedrooms got stuck, and, well, in my efforts to open it, the door broke off its hinges and fell to the floor. I'm really sorry. I'll pay for -"

"Wait. Which door was this?" Doctor Strange interrupted, sounding surprised.

"The connecting door on my side of the room," I clarified.

"You opened that door, not... Loki?" Strange asked - again in that same surprised tone.

"No," I said simply, "it was me."

"How curious," Strange said with an odd smile, then added, "don't worry about the door, Beverlee, it will be easy to repair."

"Thank you. Loki and I were planning to go out for breakfast," I said to Strange. "We'd like to invite you to join us, to thank you for your hospitality. "I turned to Thor, "you would also be most welcome."

"I would like that," Strange said.

"Thank you, Beverlee, but perhaps another time," Thor said. "I have somewhere else I have to be after talking with you," he pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to me. It seemed to be a type of handbill:  
_________________________________________________  
Stark Industries / Stark Relief Foundation Presents:  
**Christmas Gala Fundraiser**

Fifth Year Anniversary Tribute  
BATTLE OF NEW YORK 

Meet The Avengers!

A special performance by Billy Joel and Diana Krall 

December 21st 6:00pm-1:00am  
Metropolitan Club  
One East Sixtieth Street, New York

Tickets $5000.00 (Special Full Table Rates)  
Proceeds donated to Stark Relief Fund/ Damage Control  
_______________________________________________________

After reading this, I felt sick to my stomach.


	6. The Handbill

Thor had shown me a handbill for an upcoming special event in which he would be attending as a featured guest.

"When Loki sees this... it's going to hurt him," I remarked.

"I know," Thor nodded, then put a hand on my shoulder. "He will pretend that it doesn't bother him, but..." he paused, then looked at me hopefully, "I do not wish my brother to be alone on that night. It would mean much to me, and, of course, to him, if you could keep him company."

"And spend our time in... the Sanctum?" I clarified.

"Knowing you both were safe here, would be peace of mind for me," Thor replied.

"Although," Doctor Strange piped up, "I can take you both by a portal to any other location you wish for the duration of the event."

Loki then walked into the room. No longer was he wearing that stained suit I had found him in last night, he was now sporting yet another fashionable ensemble.

"So this is where you are," Loki said happily as he saw me. "There's quite a few twists and turns in this place, it really could use some..." He then saw Thor, which startled him momentarily, but recovered swiftly, "Brother? What are you doing here?"

I took a deep breath. With a sympathetic expression, I gave the handbill back to Thor, then walked over to Loki. Briefly taking my friend's hands with each of mine, I gave him a warm smile, which he returned... one last bit of happiness before discovering his morning would be ruined.

"Loki, I'm here to see you and Beverlee," Thor said. "I need to talk to you about something." With a gesture of his hand, he motioned for all of us to sit down, which we did. "There's no easy way to tell you," and handed the paper to Loki.

Loki began to read it and remained quiet as he did so.

"This event makes quite a lot of money for Tony Stark to continue to give back to those who were affected during the Battle... uh, that time," Thor said, attempting to sound upbeat. "I hope you understand why I must attend."

"Yes, Thor," I said, "I'm quite sure many are buying tickets simply to see you, along with the possibility of getting a photo op or selfie," and gave him an encouraging smile. "I cannot find any fault with you attending such a good cause."

"Beverlee is right," Loki said, with a sympathetic expression on his face. "Your attendance is a must for this worthy event. More donations will be forthcoming simply with the flex of a bicep and a flash of your smile." He returned the handbill to Thor.

"Both your support and understanding mean a lot to me," Thor said, putting the paper back in his pocket, "thank you." He stood from the chair, and we all followed suit. "Well, I must be going, it was really nice seeing you, Beverlee." He took my hand and pulled me into another hug, "I hope it's not too long till we meet up again."

Glancing at Loki, who seemed to be lost in thought, I then turned back to face Thor, "I hope so too," I said, then with a chuckle, "although, considering how things seem to work these days, I suspect it might be sooner than you think."

Releasing me from his enveloping hug, Thor walked over to Loki, then put a hand on his arm, "Brother, I suspect why you patronized that bar last night. If I may, I would like to talk to you about it later."

"You know where to find me," Loki responded with a shrug.

Thor turned to Strange. Lifting his hand, he pointed his finger in a couple of directions, then said in the manner of a question, "I'll show myself out..."

"Then, good day, Thor Odinson," Strange said, pointing him in the right direction, with a nod and a hint of a smile. After Thor had departed, Strange looked at us, "are we ready to go?"

I no longer felt ready. Asides from not being able to talk to Doctor Strange privately, I would have liked to have had a moment alone with Loki to talk about Stark's gala. However, seeing that Doctor Strange seemed to show that he was somewhat in favour of my friend, perhaps during breakfast I would seize the opportunity. As well, breakfast also does have a way of improving one's mood...

I just hoped, for Loki's sake, whatever restaurant we were to dine, they served pancakes.


	7. Alice's Restaurant

Doctor Strange brought us to a diner that was a couple of blocks away from the Sanctum. It was in the vernacular what they call a "hole in the wall" and in his opinion, one of the best places to eat.

Our server approached us, and she seemed to recognize the Mystic Master. Gazing at him with a warm smile, she said, "it's been a while since you've graced us with your presence." Briefly, she regarded both Loki and I with friendly curiosity, then turned back at Strange, "I see Wong's not with you?"

"No, not today."

Surreptitiously I glanced at the waitress' name tag, it said, 'Alice.'

Acknowledging with a nod, Alice then walked a few steps over to the hostess station. From a shelf inside, she pulled out three menus, then led us to our table.

"What would you like to drink?" she asked. 

"Water."

"Coffee."

"Orange juice."

Giving us each a menu and cutlery, Alice then left to fill our drink orders.

Loki leaned his chin on his hand and stared at the menu. I wondered if he was actually seeing the menu or his mind was somewhere else.

I touched his arm and he turned to look at me.

"I'm fine," Loki said, then turned back to the menu.

"That's not what I was asking," I said to him. He turned his head again my way.

"Are you free on that evening?" I asked.

"You think we should crash the gala?" Loki said, with with a mischievous grin. "As a shapeshifter, I can..."

"You know, I can hear you," Doctor Strange said.

"I'm joking," Loki said to Strange, "I do tend to do that on occasion."

But I could hear it in Loki's voice that he was affected by Thor's news. Time to try and create a diversion by changing the subject.

"What's good here?" I asked Strange, opening up my menu.

"Well, my friend Wong likes the Eggs Benedict," Strange replied, "but so far, I haven't found a bad item on their menu."

"Hmm... " I thought, "the combo platter looks appetizing."

"Oh you don't want that," Strange said in a deadpan tone.

"Really? Would I change the space-time continuum in some way, if I did?" I asked, suddenly thinking about the written works of Douglas Adams. "Maybe it would be safer if you ordered for us?"

Loki closed his menu with an impish grin, "I'd like to see that - if you could pair us with a safe and balanced breakfast."

"What I said to Beverlee was merely in jest," Strange explained. "But if you like... challenge accepted."

We really didn't have much to lose from this, considering what Doctor Strange said about the menu along with his skills in the mystic arts.

Alice soon approached our table again, now with our beverages. She placed them on the table along with two straws, then pulled out a pad from a pocket of her waitress uniform.

"Are you ready to order?" she asked.

"Yes," Strange said. Without opening a menu, he rattled off our orders, "she'll have breakfast platter four with a bialy and cream cheese, he'll have breakfast platter three with banana pancakes, and I'll just have my usual."

Alice nodded with a smile, then picked up the menus from the table. 

"Good choices!" she said and winked at Strange. "I'll be back with your orders shortly," then took her leave to the kitchen.

"A bialy?" I asked, curious.

"It's like a bagel, but not," Strange replied, "instead of a hole it's got a depression." Strange looked at my friend, "sort of what Loki seems to be dealing with right now."

"I said I'm fine," Loki growled, now getting annoyed.

"Easy," I said to Loki, surreptitiously putting a hand on his leg. "Doctor Strange, come on, show some compassion, considering what we've just been told."

"I am," Strange said. "I thought by bringing up the subject we could discuss how to alleviate the situation."

"Well," I looked at Loki, "how would you like to -"

We were then interrupted by the sound of a crying child.

We couldn't help but turn our heads.

At an adjacent table, there was a mother and her child, who couldn't have been more than three years old. The child was fussy. Alice had brought the standard high chair for the toddler to sit, along with some crayons and a colouring book, but seemed to not want any part of it - they continued to cry and whine with their displeasure.

The mother tried to placate the youngster by making soothing, then funny noises and waving around one of their toys, but it still wasn't doing the trick. She noticed us looking and gave us an apologetic expression with a shrug.

Other patrons were now also looking at the scene, as it was disrupting their meals, and there were clear looks of irritation and frustration.

Doctor Strange raised his hands into conjuring mode and within a few seconds, an illusion of fireworks and shiny images appeared before the fussy child... Unfortunately, they didn't seem happy about these images and tried to bat them away, exacerbating their upset.

Then out of nowhere, an image of a cute fluffy creature appeared in front of the child. It was looking and sniffing at them, then hopping around - making the child turn their head. The crying stopped and their expression transformed into one of glee and excitement. They clapped their hands and made squeals in delight, as the creature did some skillful acts of jumping and flips only Cirque du Soleil could possibly equal.

I turned to face my friend - smiling at him with an expression that almost mirrored the child.

With the child properly distracted from their woes, the fluffy creature waved a paw, then disappeared.

"Oh, Loki, that was... so sweet," I said quietly, touching his arm.

We soon heard the smattering of applause from some of the patrons.

Smiling at us, the mother mouthed, 'Thank you,' then turned her attention back to the child.

"The mystic arts really have nothing in the books about entertaining children..." Doctor Strange said, sounding a bit irked. "Unless Wong has been holding out on me."

"At least you made the attempt," I said to Strange, giving him a sympathetic look.

"Now you have something else to work on for your Mystic Arts training," Loki said with a smug smile on his face.

"Loki," I gently chided, "Doctor Strange has faced quite the adversary to protect Midgard. You can't fault him for lacking in his skills with children."

"I'm not faulting him," Loki said, with a mischievous grin. "I'm just bringing up the topic so we can discuss how to alleviate the situation...."

Closing my eyes, I shook my head in amusement and frustration, letting out a sigh. These guys...

At that moment, Alice brought our food orders to the table.

Despite his shortcoming in pacifying a fussy child, Doctor Strange made up for it in his choice of our breakfasts. I found my meal quite appetizing and promised myself if there was time, I needed to find a bakery somewhere to buy some more of these bialys before I returned back to Winnipeg.

Looking over at Loki, I could see he was really enjoying those banana pancakes.

"So, what do you think of my choices?" Doctor Strange asked, sipping his coffee.

"Keeping the universe safe has never tasted so good," Loki said with a wry smile, stabbing a piece of sausage with his fork. "I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the Mystic Masters have a book on this very topic."

"Well, we do." Doctor Strange said, nonchalant.

"Ah," I said, chuckling, "there is the saying, 'an army runs on its stomach.' Good to know that the Mystic Masters also have an established guide." I looked at Strange," I have to say my meal was delicious on several levels. It was just enough to fill me up and I'm ready to take on the world."

"Perhaps... that is why Doctor Strange didn't order that one for me," Loki said thoughtfully, giving me a certain look - then flashed another mischievous grin.

"You!" I nudged him with my elbow and laughed. I couldn't be sure, but from the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Strange roll his eyes.

It had taken quite some time for Loki to come to grips with what he had done during the Battle of New York. I knew he would always harbour guilt in some way about it, but there also comes a time when you can no longer dwell in the past. Through our friendship, in time, I was able to help Loki move forward and not be afraid to put the past behind him. So for him to crack such a dark joke was not all disrespectful, it simply proved that my friend was of, well, good humour.

Returning to our table, Alice dropped off the check, but lingered, looking like she wanted to tell us something.

"Alice, what is it?" Doctor Strange asked.

"I, umm..." Alice cleared her throat, "I saw those magic tricks you did to turn that boy's frown upside down," her eyes looked imploringly at us, "I have a friend who administrates an orphanage, and she's always looking for talent to entertain the kids as well as the attendees for their annual Christmas fundraiser. I think it would be great to have you guys on the program."

"When is this event?" Strange asked Alice.

"December twenty-first," she replied, "now you don't have to decide now, just think it over." She put a business card on the table, "if this is something you might like to participate in, just give her a call. Tell her Alice recommended you."


	8. Subway Scene

Taking care of the check, I noticed Doctor Strange pick up the business card. He took a good look at it, shook his head, then returned it to the table.

Loki didn't seem interested in looking at the card, so I had a look at it for myself. An idea began to take shape in my mind. Although I wasn't quite sure how I could actually make this idea work - I surreptitiously slipped the card into my pocket anyway.

It appeared this wasn't was going to be the right moment to broach the subjects I wanted to discuss with Doctor Strange, as the Mystic Master informed us he soon had to return to the Sanctum.

This wasn't a problem, though. Since we were staying at the Sanctum, I believed another opportunity would present itself.

Doctor Strange then asked us what we'd like to do while in the city.

So many choices...

Originally, when I had planned my trip, there was a long list of items I had jotted down along with the person who was to accompany me. Many were locations that certain TV shows and movies had been filmed. In truth, there were only a few places I specifically wanted to visit and have the thrill of the journey of getting to them - but these were best seen at night.

What would we do in the daytime?

Pulling out my smartphone, I looked up what activities we could do during this season...

And found one that got my attention.

"Loki, are you up for an adventure?" I asked.

"With you? Of course," he responded, with a smile.

"Great!" I smiled back. "Hope you don't mind, but I'd like to keep where we are going as a surprise."

"A surprise, eh?" Loki said, cocking his eyebrow. "My clever girl, no matter where we go, I suspect the result will be the same..." he paused for a moment, then said, "a good time will be had?"

My smile widened.

Going to the website of this 'surprise' location, I found a link for directions and clicked on it.

Handing Strange my smartphone, he showed me how to get to the right subway station.

Apparently, the station wasn't too far away from where we were, and this subway would take us all the way to our destination.

"Thank you for breakfast and have a good time," Strange said, looking at the both of us as we exited the diner. "I'll see you two back at the Sanctum later. Oh! Beverlee, may I see your phone again?"

Pulling it from my pocket, I handed it to him.

Holding my phone in one of his hands and doing some conjuring with the other, for a moment my phone glowed orange, then the glow disappeared.

"If you run into any problems, just call," Strange said. "I believe you already know the activation words. When you return to the Sanctum, just text #1772 and the doors will open for you." Strange then handed my phone back to me.

"That's easier than having to say 'open sesame.' Thank you," I said, looking up at the Mystic Master with awe. Glancing at Loki then back to Strange, "we might come back... a little late," I said, sounding sheepish.

"I'm a night owl," Strange said. "I'll most likely be up when you return."

"The ever watchful, Doctor Strange," Loki said, his tone neutral. "Keeping Midgard safe for the people."

"Perhaps you can take some of the pressure off me, Loki?" Strange asked. "Keep Beverlee safe?"

"You already know I will," Loki replied, then looked at me, "like she does for me."

Looking at Loki endearingly, I then turned to Strange, "we'll see you later."

****

It didn't take long for us to find the sidewalk entrance to the station, and we proceeded to walk down the stairs. Once inside, we discovered this station had a few shops. How fortuitous, as I wanted to get some items before we started our adventure - specifically, a simple backpack, bottled water and some snacks.

Loki helped me find a backpack in a lovely shade of green that would suit our needs. We then looked for a shop that sold drinks and snacks, which we discovered not far from this one. Purchasing the items we needed, we put them in the backpack.

It was time for us to make our way to the platform.

At least I was no stranger to the subway systems, per se. Although this station was more populated with riders than I was used to, when I had taken trips to Toronto, I sometimes utilized their TTC - Toronto Transit Commission. Like any other subway system, we just needed to purchase tickets and go through the correct turnstiles to get to the platform. However... the hardest part was finding them!

Luckily, that did not present a problem for us. With his silver tongue, Loki charmed a station agent (of the MTA New York City Transit Authority) who directed us to where we had to go and what tickets we needed to purchase.

Once we acquired our tickets for the F Train / Orange Line and went through the turnstile, we walked down more stairs, then waited on the platform, like the rest of the people there. While this was most likely a regular routine for these people, for me, I was very excited. Asides from riding on the subway, there was one thing about this particular form of transit that I always looked forward to - and I didn't have to wait long for it.

We could hear the vehicle coming down the track.

As it arrived at the platform...

I felt that amazing WHOOSH of air when the vehicle arrived!

I sighed contently, a smile now on my face.

Boarding the subway car, we found an open seat that faced along its length for both of us. Within thirty seconds, the doors closed and the vehicle continued on its way to the next stop.

Being an Ad Major in Creative Communications, I always liked looking at the subway ads that were placed within the interior of the cars. They were helpful at times, letting you know about what's new; movies, establishments, locations as well as food items. But it wasn't just for the information, I also liked looking at how they were designed - sometimes they would inspire me to create some new things for one or more of the social media I was a part.

Feeling Loki's hand on my shoulder, it drew my attention away from the ads.

Turning to look at him, he leaned in close and whispered, "I can't be sure, but I think some of these people are staring at me."

"Are they?" I questioned also in a whisper, looking around furtively. Most of the riders seemed to be keeping to themselves, but then I did start to notice some glancing our way briefly, as if they thought they knew who they were seeing was... well, who they were seeing.

Oddly enough, I wasn't worried if a confrontation ensued. I also knew Loki wasn't either. If a rider did actually recognize my friend, they would have to be plain stupid to make such an attempt. However, I suspected Loki was thinking about the exchange we had last night about his actions during the bar fight in Soho. Admittedly, seeing these people stare at us did begin to make things feel a little uncomfortable.

Was he asking me to permit him to do something about this?

I took his hand, "just let them stare," I continued to whisper. "Everybody looks like someone else. If things don't change by the next stop I have a plan in mind. We are NOT going to let these people spoil our fun."

"Beverlee," Loki whispered back, "what you've said has inspired my own plan, which will bring the fun back to us. May I deal with the situation in a way that you have advised?"

"How so?" I was both intrigued and nervous. Again, he leaned in close and whispered in my ear what he had in mind.

I smiled and nodded. It was so perfect. And no one would get hurt.

As people continued to stare at us, Loki used his power of illusion to make himself look like one of the starers in question, and then another. It would only take a few seconds - the starer would do a double take and look at us, not seeing that it was us, it would be me with the starer. The starer would shake their head with disbelief, then see me with my friend. It made them think they were hallucinating... Loki did this in such a way that it was too fast for even a smartphone camera to capture - although interesting enough, no one was making an attempt to do that.

The riders that had been staring had now stopped. It was also an extra relief that when we got to the next stop, many of them disembarked - it made me wonder if it was their usual stop, or was it to get away from us?

In any case, as the subway continued, it was now a more enjoyable ride.

While I could have enjoyed the rest of the trip riding subway in silence sitting beside Loki, I knew we thrived more on our conversations.

"New York has such a majesty about it," I said, "I'm curious... how does it compare to... where you previously called home?"

"I really couldn't call it home," Loki said softly, "but I do admit, there are certain aspects of New York that do remind me of it. The tall shiny buildings, the theatres, beautiful gardens, and..." he looked at me shyly, "you may think me silly for saying this, but, I was thrilled to discover - you have horses! Not all of the nine... do."

I smiled at Loki, "that's not silly at all. In fact, to know that you even had horses where you came from intrigues me." I put my hand on his arm, "have you had a chance to ride while you've been here?"

"Well not recently," Loki said, putting his hand on mine that was on his arm, "as you are aware, my return has been fraught with finishing... unfinished business."

"Perhaps, while we're here we can find some time to do so."

"I'd like that, Beverlee. Do you ride?"

"Not very well," I smirked.

"When was the last time you did?"

"Oh, several years ago. And only a few times."

"I would be glad to give you some lessons," Loki said.

"I would be honoured." I smiled at him, "please, tell me about the horses, you must have had one of your own?"

"Yes, I did," Loki said, a fond expression appeared on his face as he recalled the memory, "a chestnut mare."

Loki regaled to me the story of when he and Thor were very young, Odin took them to the Royal Stables to each choose a new foal for their own. The Stable Master both gave them guidance on how to choose one wisely, as caring for these animals would become one of their responsibilities which would remain into adulthood. The Stable Master and his assistants would do the basic tending, like providing water and feed, and making sure their stables would be kept clean, but it was ultimately up to brothers to take the time and effort to build a rapport with their mounts.

"Even with all the information, the Stable Master gave," Loki said, "there were a few I had my eye on, and it was difficult to choose. Of course, Thor knew exactly which one he wanted, he chose a white colt foal. And then, as fate would have it, this chestnut filly foal wandered over to me. Curious and wide-eyed, she started nuzzling my shirt near my hip. I stroked her mane, and she looked up at me. She didn't bolt, she just stayed there. I didn't have to choose, because... she chose me."

"Aww!" I simply said, thinking this was just as special as a certain boy in a popular book when he was choosing his magic wand before heading off to a school that would train him to become a wizard.

We continued to discuss the topic of horses until we got to our stop. Standing up and slinging the backpack over my shoulders, we left the car, following the other riders. Taking a short moment to locate and use the station's restrooms, we then continued on our way. Turning left after the turnstiles, we walked up the exit ramp of the station, over a boardwalk and into a park. Following a clearly marked designated path, we soon arrived at our destination.

It was a farm - but also a tourist attraction. As we got closer to the gate the sign said 'Queens County Farm Museum.'

"A farm?" Loki asked with curiosity.

"Not just any farm, my friend," I replied, noticing another sign close to the other, and pointed to it.

The sign read, 'Home of The Amazing Maize Maze.'

I took Loki's hand, "shall we get lost together?"

Looking at the sign, then back to me, "yes, let's," Loki said with a grin.


	9. Mazes & Monsters

There were lots of people at the farm, the majority being families with young children. Hearing the various sounds of excitement coming from this gathering of people, especially the kids, it was contagious - making us even more excited to be here.

We made our way inside a building, a sign on the exterior that read 'Welcome Center and Gift Shop.' Working behind the counter stood an older and gregarious woman. When it was our turn in line, she explained to us what the farm offered and the activity packages available.

For now, we only wanted to do the corn maze. Purchasing our tickets, she directed us to a designated gate that would open by a certain time.

Before heading over there, Loki and I took a moment to look around and see what wares the gift shop offered.

We found an assortment of natural products, like honey and jam. There were fruits and vegetables available - hand-picked from the farm itself. There were also beeswax candles and one of my favourite types of candy one would find in such a shop - Gilliam Old Fashioned Sticks. Asides from the backpack, we didn't want to carry anything else while going through the maze, so we decided afterward we'd return.

Finding the designated gate, we waited with the other 'mazers' for our 'Farm Educator' to arrive. The woman at the 'Welcome Centre and Gift Shop' told us that before we could enter, the adventure begins with a 'Stalk Talk' that prepares you for the challenge of finding clues, solving puzzles, and making your way out of the maze.

It wasn't a long wait. Our designated 'Farm Educator' was a young woman who walked up to the gate, opened it, then began ushering us inside the area. Once our group was all in, she closed the gate, then stood before us and began, in an enthusiastic tone, her 'Stalk Talk':

"My name is Cassidy and I'm your trainer for today, and you are all jockeys with the skill set and determination to get through our amazing maize maze! Alright! We have over three acres of one mile of corny goodness and if you make the first nineteen decisions correctly, you'll get out in about ten minutes... if not we close today at 5:30 pm."

Some of the group laughed at that last part. I suspected with us being new to this, we definitely were going to take longer than ten minutes...

Cassidy continued, "we have colour coordinated the maze, to give you an overall picture of where you are within the maze," she held up a large laminated sheet displaying the maze's configuration - a blue border framing a horse in orange with a rider in green, "if you will notice this blue ribbon that's outlining the maze, we have that throughout, so if you're in the blue, you are in the outer area of the maze, if you are in the orange then you are in the horse and if you are in the green, then you are in the jockey. If you see a gold ribbon then you are on your way to victory circle where you can cross the bridge and start celebrating!"

She informed us there were nine checkpoints, each one giving a clue on what direction to go next. The talk concluded with safety procedures and how to alert the staff in case of an emergency.

"You may now enter the maze... at your own risk. Good luck!" Cassidy said, waving us on to proceed.

"Beverlee," Loki said in a hushed tone, putting his hands on my shoulders, "we can make short work of this if you like."

"How so?" I asked.

"I have the power to create duplicates of myself and send them ahead to scout the area, so as we get to a crossroad, we'll know where to turn."

"You mean cheat?" I smiled at him, amused by his suggestion.

"Well... yes," Loki confirmed, unabashed.

While some would scold Loki for such an idea, one had to understand that since he was the God of Mischief, it was simply one of his methods on how he got things done - you couldn't fault him for that.

"While that is something to consider," I replied, thinking out loud, "let's hold off for now and see how far we can get on our own steam."

"If we do that, we might be here a while."

"Perhaps. In any case, if we work together, I know it's not going to take us till 5:30 pm to get out of here." I took Loki's hand, "I tell you what, I'll make you a deal. If you promise not to cheat, I will give you a reward after we exit the maze."

"Reward?" my friend asked, raising an eyebrow. "What kind of reward?"

"Don't worry, I'll make it worth your while," I said, with a glint in my eye.

"My clever girl," Loki said, with a pleased expression, "I'm sure you will."

****

Closing my eyes for a moment, I listened to the rustling of the corn stalks as a light breeze passed through them along with more of those excited sounds of children and parents walking by us. I also was happy for the fact that the ground was solid and not muddy - it didn't seem like a bad place to get lost in temporarily.

"So, here we are," I said to Loki, "walking in a corn maze in Queens, searching for the endpoint. Did you have anything similar from your... land?"

"Yes..." Loki replied, the expression on his face seemed that this was yet another fond memory, "my adoptive mother had tasked the landscaping staff to construct a hedge maze." He then spoke in a hushed voice so others walking nearby wouldn't hear, "as you know these things take quite some time to build. On Asgard, the residents have long lifespans. Suffice it to say, Thor and I were still in our younger years when the project was completed. We took advantage of going through it as many times as we could - however when we got a bit older, my mother, as you know, wielded magic... and she decided to take it upon herself to enchant the maze. The thing is, she never told us she had! It was never the same route twice. She made subtle changes at first, which didn't really detract from how we usually found our way... until one day Thor got lost! I listened for his voice, got him to keep calling out to me, and I eventually found him. It was then she revealed what she had done. Thor never went into the maze again, but I relished it even more..."

"You relished... the thrill of a new challenge?"

"That, and... no one else would be able to find me... Well, except for mother. It was very peaceful there."

"I see," I smiled at him. Suddenly, I recalled something about mazes from an animated TV show I watched several years ago, where the characters had been lost in one themselves, "hey, it seems to me that we now have at least two methods of finding our way out of here."

"I thought we already discussed this. We agreed we weren't going to cheat?" Loki said.

"That's not what I meant," I chuckled, "while a corn maze is different from a hedge or indoor maze, the mechanics may still apply. From what I've observed, it seems this maze is connected - and if that's the case throughout, we just need to use either the right-hand/left-hand rule. This will assure us of finding the endpoint. It may take us a little longer, but we'll definitely get our money's worth." I shrugged, "it's either that or we randomly choose a direction when we hit a fork in the path."

"I vote for 'Plan A,'" Loki said. "It seems the better strategy."

"Good. And, if we see anything that helps to advance our way out, I'm not opposed to giving it a try."

"Your hand or mine?" Loki smiled at me.

****

The strategy seemed to be working pretty well thus far, as we happened upon a few checkpoints, then soon found ourselves within the orange ribbon area. This meant we were now within the 'horse' part of the maze.

During Cassidy's 'Stalk Talk,' when she held up the laminated sheet displaying the maze's configuration, it was clearly marked that one would only have to find the horse's 'foreleg' and the endpoint would be through the 'hoof.' We realized now we might not need to find all the checkpoints after all!

We gave each other a high-five for our ingenuity, then carried on, knowing if we saw blue, it just meant we had to go another direction.

"What are these things supposed to represent?" Loki asked me with curiosity.

My friend was referring to freestanding plywood painted images that we would see every so often while making our way through the twists and turns. We had passed a vampire, a mummy and now a werewolf.

"Those? They are iconic images of fictional creatures and beings from Midgard's genre of horror," I explained. "We'll probably see some more as we go. For October, it's a staple to decorate public places with a theme of scary but family-friendly images for the upcoming occasion of Hallowe'en."

Loki stopped for a moment. As he continued to stare at the werewolf standee, a worried expression appeared on his face.

"Loki, what's wrong?" I moved closer to him.

"Do you think..." he whispered, "there's... a representation of me here? Or maybe at another public place?"

"Why would you even say that?" I asked, my heart beginning to pound and break at the same time. "You're no monster." I soon saw that familiar glistening moisture in Loki's eyes. He really looked spooked.

"I have been," he said.

"Hey," I said, taking his hand, "this isn't about you being a monster." I looked knowingly into his eyes, "it's about that damn Stark Gala."

Loki begrudgingly nodded.

"Let's sit," I suggested.

Since we were making good time and had made it into the part of the maze we wanted, it was actually the best idea for us to take a short break. As we sat down, again I was thankful for the ground being dry enough to do so.

Opening up the backpack, I pulled out a bottle of water for each of us, along with a couple of SunRype Fruitsource bars. We didn't realize how thirsty we had become as we took long sips from our bottles.

"Loki, talk to me," I grasped his arm briefly. "What's really bothering you about the event?"

"Is it not obvious, Beverlee?" Loki said, lowering his head in shame. "If not for I, Stark would not be hosting such a specific event." 

"Perhaps," I said, "but don't think for a second that I'm not aware of how much this must be hurting you. It hurts me seeing you hurting. But Loki, after what you told me of... that time... and the circumstances behind it, I... believe there's a specific detail that you've overlooked. A very important one, in fact."

Loki looked up at me, eagerly awaiting, with desperation, to hear what I was going to say.

"If it wasn't for you..." I smiled softly, and leaned in close, "the Avengers would never have assembled."

"What..?" he whispered with an expression that seemed to convey he was unsure if he heard me right and trying to process what I just said.

"Thor might have been the first step to make SHIELD nervous and get into gear about contact from other worlds... but," I took Loki's hand, "it was YOU who got that team solid. Yes, sometimes the end doesn't justify the means, but... this fact cannot be denied."

"But that's not what I..."

"I know," I interrupted, "but it still happened." I squeezed his hand, and looked into his eyes, "own it."

A small smile appeared on Loki's lips and he looked at me with affection. He released his hand and reached for the back of my head. He pulled me forward and lightly kissed my forehead, then released me.

"My clever girl..." he said, taking my hand, "and her powers."

I smiled and shrugged. 

"Come on, let's get out of this maze," I said, returning our water bottles and the bar wrappers into the backpack.


	10. Lost & Found

Continuing on with our strategy, we soon heard a crying child in the distance. While not an uncommon sound, we presumed the child would be tended to by its parent/guardian and the crying would soon cease. However, this crying had been going on pretty consistently - and our steps were taking us closer to the source. 

We discovered a very young child on the side of the path, their knees tucked up into their chest, bawling - and they were alone.

How was this possible? Could it be this was a rare area of the maze? In using our strategy, perhaps not many came by this way? In any case, the child was here.

Loki and I looked at each other. We couldn't ignore this situation.

"Just to be sure, this isn't a trick?" Loki asked. "I've read of such things in Asgardian fairy tales."

"I've also read of such things in our Midgardian ones," I replied, "However in this realm, things of this nature are more of what they seem rather than supernatural."

Carefully we approached and crouched by the child.

"Hey, little one," I said quietly, "what's a matter?"

Looking up at us, we could see it was a little girl. She looked frightened but remained quiet.

"I know, I'm a stranger," I continued, "and you must have been told not to talk to strangers. You're doing the right thing. My name is Beverlee, and this is my friend Loki." I smiled softly at the girl, "where's your group?"

The girl shrugged and shook her head, tears continuing to fall from her eyes.

"It's okay to be scared," Loki said gently. "I would be too, lost in this crazy maze," and gave her a smile. "But someone must be looking for you. Maybe if the three of us work together we can find them. Will you let us help you?"

She nodded, looking less stressed.

"May we know your name?" I asked. "It's just so when we hear someone calling it out, we know where we need to go."

"My name is Abigail," she said, her voice quiet.

"Well, pleased to meet you, Abigail," I said, then slowly extended my hand, with the palm up. "May I?"

Abigail took my hand and I helped her stand. I expected her to let go of my hand after doing so, but she didn't. I was rather touched at that - it made me want to help this girl even more.

While I understood that the best thing one can do in these kinds of situations is to just stay put and wait for the parent/guardian to arrive, sometimes the circumstances don't make that possible. We couldn't begin to know how adept whoever was taking care of Abigail, especially when it came to maneuvering in these mazes - they might get just as lost as she was.

"Loki," I said, giving him a warm smile, "it appears the parameters of this maze has changed." With my free hand, I touched his arm, "sounds like a story I once heard..."

Loki looked at me with a sweet expression of utter fondness.

"Beverlee," Loki said, sounding hesitant, "I have a suggestion to help Abigail."

"Sure," I said, "what have you got in mind?"

"Before I tell you... please, believe me, it's not for the purpose of cheating." Loki looked at me imploringly. A small smile soon appeared, then he spoke in a playful tone, "I still intend to earn that reward."

I had to smile at Loki's enthusiasm. Of course, he would be eager for that reward!

"Okay, enlighten me."

"It's what I suggested earlier. I can send out some duplicates into the maze to find her group. It would make sense they would be calling out her name."

"It's a good plan," I agreed, touching his arm. "Do you need anything to prepare?"

"No," Loki said, "I can start right away."

"Then give me a moment before you start," I said, now crouching to face Abigail.

"Do you like magic, Abigail?" I asked.

She nodded. 

"Well, my friend here is quite a skilled illusionist. He is about to do a trick that will help us find your group. I'm telling you this because I don't want you to be scared when he does it. Also, I need you to promise not to tell anyone what you see. We don't want any other magicians to steal his tricks for themselves, do we?"

Abigail smiled and nodded.

Looking up at Loki, I gave him a thumbs up with a smile. 

In seconds, there were seven other Lokis standing with us, and in a flash, they all ran off in different directions.

"This may take some time," Loki said, looking at the both of us. "But I assure you, if they are out there they will be found."

****

Loki wasn't wrong, several minutes had passed and there was no sign yet from any of the duplicates.

I could sense Abigail was getting frustrated and worried. I crouched again to look at her.

"Abigail, it's going to be all right," I said. "I promise we will not leave you until we find them, okay?"

"Okay," she nodded, then said in a soft whine, "I-I'm tired."

"Don't worry, it can't be too much longer now," I then turned to Loki. "How are you faring?" I asked.

"I'm fine," Loki assured. "I've worked with more than double the amount of duplicates, so this is not very taxing..."

Then - a big grin appeared on his face, "ta-daa!"

Loki discontinued all but one illusion, the one that would lead us to reunite Abigail with her group.

"Abigail, I believe I heard you say you were tired," Loki said, now crouching beside me. "You're not afraid of heights are you?" He looked at her with a mischievous smile.

She shook her head to the negative.

"Loki, be careful," I warned, realizing what he was about to do.

Nodding in acknowledgement to what I said, Loki then turned back to Abigail, "may I?"

Reaching out, he took Abigail's hands. In one fell swoop, he picked her up and had her sitting atop his shoulders.

The look on Abigail's face was sheer joy.

"That's better," Loki said, with a self-satisfied look on his face. "Hang on tight, Abigail."

I couldn't help but smile witnessing this sweet moment. Looking at Loki with affection, he gave me a wink, then we went on our way to fulfill our Samaritan task.

*****

We soon came upon a group of people composed of two women and seven kids, with one kid calling out our lost girl's name.

"ABBY!" a small boy called out with a smile on his face, running towards us.

I noticed this boy was wearing a t-shirt with a picture of Iron Man on it. Taking a deep breath, I hoped because of the boy's young age he wouldn't be aware who my friend was.

Loki sighed as he also noticed the boy's shirt. Carefully he lifted Abigail off his shoulders and gently stood her back on the ground.

When the boy reached Abigail, he gave her a big hug.

"Where did you go?" the boy asked. "We didn't know where to look!"

"I made it into the orange area!" Abigail cried. "Then I got lost. You should have followed me!"

I was happy to see that Abigail seemed no worse for wear.

The women now began to approach us. As a reflex, I took Loki's hand and held it, offering support and displaying solidarity.

"Thank you for finding her!" one of the women said. "She ran off, very excited to be here. We've never been in one of these ourselves so we weren't sure exactly where to look. We had hoped she'd find her way back to us. Which we're so glad she did, and we can't thank you enough."

"No thanks are necessary," Loki stated. "We're simply satisfied we were able to reunite her back with her family. Are you her mother?"

"Her mother? Gracious, no," the woman replied. "My name is Sally, I'm a worker from the 'Found and Abound' Orphanage.'" Sally gestured with her head to the other woman, "this is Vera, one of my colleagues and friend. This farm was kind enough to sponsor our facility so we could take these kids on this field trip."

"Sadly," Vera spoke, "we didn't realize how much supervision the kids were going to need in a location like this. We're understaffed, but the people at the farm said they would help us if and when needed."

"Do you need assistance now?" I asked.

"Thanks to you, not anymore," Sally replied. "All eight kids are now accounted for, and we can go through this maze together." She smiled at both of us, "we're going to have to employ the 'buddy system' so this doesn't happen again." Out of her big purse, Loki and I curiously watched as she pulled out something that looked like a flat but very long strip of vinyl with colourful vinyl rings attached. "The 'hold-a ring walking rope' should make this easier." She gave us another smile, then turned to the children, and called for them to pay attention.

And that was it. Mission accomplished.

Then, without warning, I began experiencing feelings of disquiet, making me want to leave this maze.

I felt Loki's hand on my shoulder.

"Shall we continue to find the endpoint?" Loki asked.

"I-I umm..."

Although I wanted to be honest with Loki about my problem, I promised him a reward if he didn't cheat. Breaking a promise... Well, I couldn't do that to my dear friend.

"Sure," I said in a flat voice.

Then Loki did something unexpected. Spying a nearby hay bale, he took me by the hand and we walked toward it. Once we sat, he pulled me into a hug.

"Hey, we did good," he whispered to me, lightly stroking my back. "We found her group. Own that."

He was right; we did. Being reminded comforted me, putting my mind at ease and back on track, making those awful feelings within dissipate fast.

Releasing the hug a bit, we watched as the children marched away from us, going deeper in the maze, holding the colourful rings on the vinyl rope. Then, they soon began to sing a familiar song:

"You are my sunshine   
My only sunshine.  
You make me happy  
When skies are grey.  
You'll never know, dear, How much I love you.  
Please don't take my sunshine away..."

I looked at my friend.

"Let's find the endpoint," I said and smiled at him.

****

It didn't take long for us to get back to where we had been before meeting Abigail.

"Beverlee..." Loki said, thinking out loud, "in a way, I'm also like Abigail."

"You mean... you occasionally find yourself lost?" I said coyly.

Loki stopped and gave me a shy smile.

"Loki... I know what you meant," I said quietly, looking into his eyes. "I can only imagine seeing those children must have..."

"Yes. It made me recall my own origins..." Loki said softly, with a look of melancholy. "Things I told you about when we celebrated the life of your uncle in that bar. Those kids might not have a family, but I'm glad they have someone to care for them properly."

"Agreed," I said, quietly, taking his hand. From what Loki had told me, growing up on Asgard had been quite troublesome. Even for myself, being a common Midgardian, although I was not adopted, I might just as well have been. Considering much of what I experienced growing up, I could also somewhat relate to Loki's plight.

"I'm so glad you found me when you did," Loki said, releasing his hand and gently placing both of his on either side of my shoulders.

"Loki... we found each other," I clarified, with a soft smile.

"Yes..." my friend said, with a smile of self-satisfaction, "and now I can't imagine being without you."

"Neither can I..." I then noticed the colour of the ribbon on the stalks near to us, "we found gold."

"What we have is more precious than gold..." Loki whispered huskily.

"No, Loki," I said, "look!" I pointed to the stalks.

There it was. The stalks that had a gold ribbon around them - we were near the endpoint!

We both got closer to the stalks to make sure our eyes weren't deceiving us and confirmed right away that it was indeed a gold ribbon.

Loki and I looked at each other, both of us had big grins on our faces.

"If you don't mind," Loki said, "could we take a slower pace? I'm not tired, I simply want to -"

"Savour the moment?" I finished for him.

He nodded.

"Me too."


	11. Loki's Reward

Exiting the maze, I couldn't help but take a selfie of Loki and myself with my smartphone to capture the moment. It wasn't for the purpose to share on social media - I simply wanted it for the memory.

We then saw a table where attendants were offering their congratulations for solving the maze as well as handing out cups of water, to help rehydrate from the trek. They pointed us in the right direction of how to return to the location of the Welcome Centre and Gift Shop.

As we walked back to that area, I looked at Loki with a complacent smile.

"So... it looks like we were able to solve that maze together with our ingenuity and... without cheating," I said, "what did that feel like for you?"

"Pardon the pun," Loki replied in a mirthful tone, "but it was nothing short of... amazing."

"I'm glad to hear that," I said, also amused. "It did look like you were enjoying yourself while we were in there."

"But of course," Loki said, taking my hand. "I was with you."

I shot him a sweet smile. "I... don't know what it's like when you work with the members of the Initiative, but I was so happy we were able to work as a team through those twists and turns."

"Beverlee," Loki gently chided, "at this point, dealing with twists and turns is our speciality."

"You're right," I nodded. "They are. Thank you for reminding me." I gave his hand a gentle squeeze, "speaking of remembering, I believe I made a promise to you."

"Yes," Loki acknowledged. "If I didn't cheat... there would be a reward."

"And since you didn't," I looked up at him, "I'm very excited to give you one. I think it's something you'll enjoy very much. But just be patient, okay?"

"Despite my curiosity, I know a gift from you is worth the wait." My friend then shot me a mischievous smile, "but I'll try to be as patient as I can."

I laughed.

****

Making it back to the area in which we first arrived, Loki and I returned to the Welcome Centre and Gift Shop.

Originally, I was going to make Loki go wait over by the shelves of wares so I could surprise him yet again when acquiring his reward.

Then I decided it would be best if he was with me - I mean it was HIS reward, so it should be HIS CHOICE to accept it. Otherwise, if need be, I was fine with him taking a rain check, but I suspected with what I had in mind, he wouldn't.

The same woman who served us earlier was there and again asked how she could assist.

"May I please see your list of activity packages?" I asked.

I was deliberately taking my time since I knew exactly what I wanted. Loki looked at me curiously. I had a feeling he knew I was making him wait for it. Well, there was something to be said about delayed gratification. In addition, with my friend being a Drama Major from Asgard, he was surely aware of how important the timing was when it came to making a reveal.

The woman took out an 8x10 plasticized sheet with the list of activities along with a blue binder from behind the counter then placed them on top of it. She pushed the sheet toward me.

"Ah, here it is," I said, after slowly looking over the list. "I'd like to book number four if it's still available?"

"Trail ride for two?" the woman clarified.

"A trail ride?!" Loki whispered in surprise and astonishment.

"Yes," I said to Loki with a big smile. "Would you enjoy that?"

"Would I?" he said in sheer delight, grinning from ear to ear. "I-I mean... yes!"

****

Compared to the long trek we had in the corn maze, it wasn't that far a walk to the stables. As we approached the area, we could see three horses with their reins tied to a hitching post.

Excited as I was about doing this, I was also nervous. The last time I was on a horse, it was years ago, and it was during a trail ride such as this. It had started out very well as our group's mounts all walked, then in time, we worked up to a trot.

However, when the guide asked if we wanted to increase the pace to a lope, that's when I felt I was going to be flung off the horse! Luckily, that didn't happen, and the lope only lasted for a burst of thirty seconds, but the experience affected me.

"Beverlee, is everything okay?" Loki asked as he saw a concerned expression on my face.

"I... I'm fine," I replied. "As I told you, it's been a while, so I'm both excited and... nervous."

"Nervous?" Loki said in questioning tone. "We can't have that, these animals can sense such things." Loki stopped for a moment, took my hand, and put his other atop it. "You don't have to be afraid," he said softly. "Knowing how you treat me, the horse you choose is going to be so lucky to have you as a rider." He looked over at the horses, looked back at me, then said with a sly smile, "if it helps, if you can envision it, pretend the horse is me."

"Well," I looked over at the horses then back at my friend, then smiled just as sly, "you both are magnificent creatures."

Loki chuckled, "I would have also accepted 'hot to trot' or 'a wild ride.'"

My turn to chuckle.

Lifting his hand from the top of mine, Loki reached out and touched my cheek, "shall we proceed?"

Now feeling better, I nodded.

****

A young woman, who introduced herself to us as Sara, was our Trail Guide. She told us that the path she would be taking us through would lead to some very picturesque areas on and around the farm.

But first, she would need to get ourselves acquainted with the horses.

"Today you have the pleasure of riding Doodlebug and Major, both quarter horses, " Sara said. "They are both very sweet, just show them respect and we will all have a good time."

Doodlebug was a black mare and Major, a chestnut stallion. The third horse that was with them was Tanner, which was Sara's.

"Do you have a preference?" I asked Loki.

"You take Doodlebug," Loki said with an alluring smile. "As you know I have a thing for brunettes."

His words had me grinning like a Cheshire cat and I felt my cheeks flush... my hair was also brown.

Getting closer to our mounts, suddenly something occurred to me, something that I didn't take into account. Loki wasn't Midgardian.

Would the horses take to him?

Our close friendship had made me blind to the fact he was not of our world, this fact only rearing up when certain circumstances presented themselves.

Please be kind to my friend. Please.

I was also under the belief that animals do know the difference between kind people and those who are not...

Watching cautiously, Loki extended his hand for Major to smell. He didn't act stressed or exhibit any signs of abnormal behaviour in Loki's presence.

Silently, I let out a huge sigh of relief, and relaxed.

Major became very curious about their new rider, their head moving to nuzzle Loki's shoulder. Loki gently stroked the Major's muzzle, then looked over to me with a radiant smile, shrugging.

I smiled back, thrilled for him. Now turning my attention to Doodlebug, I hoped it would be just as easy for her to take to me. Like Loki, I extended my hand for her to smell, but also attempted a telepathic thought - I'm harmless. 

To my relief, Doodlebug was just as friendly and curious. Due to my height, she lowered her head, and I was able to stroke her muzzle. Looking at her, I silently said, thank you.

"Looks like you both passed the test," Sara said with a grin. "Let's mount up."

****

I was happy to find there was a mounting block available, otherwise, it would have been quite difficult for me to climb up into the saddle. It was also helpful to me that Loki refused to mount his horse until he knew for sure I was set up in the saddle properly. Sara had given us both helmets and checked that our tack - saddle, stirrups and reins were adjusted correctly.

Then, just like Casey's 'Stalk Talk,' Sara launched into a 'Trot Talk' to prepare us for our trail ride:

"Let me ask you both a question," Sara said, "it might make things easier in which to relate. The last thing I want to do is sound like a boring seminar." She smiled, looking at us intently, "have either of you ever seen the movie 'Avatar?'"

Loki and I looked at each other and smiled. We had.

Seeing the familiarity in our faces, Sara spoke, "Good. I want you both to understand something first. You see, in that film, when the characters plug into those creatures, it's just like that." She gestured with her hand to our horses, "you are on top of a greater being. One that is way more powerful than you, and could literally kill you." She paused for a brief moment for effect, "and oddly enough, that's what powers a horse/rider team. With that trust, with that relationship you have with this creature, you can do so much more than anything in your wildest dreams - together you feel like you can do anything."

Feeling Loki's hand reach up and grasp mine, and I turned my head to look at him. We again smiled at each other, this time more endearingly. In a manner of speaking, Sara had essentially summed up the main dynamic of our friendship.

I also found it a bit amusing, considering what Loki had suggested earlier to me on how to not be afraid of riding.

"However," Sara continued, "it can also work the other way. If you don't trust, or have that confidence in your horse, you can't hope to succeed. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

We both nodded keenly in the affirmative.

Sara then went into telling us about the basics of riding.

"To have the best experience, do the following: sit tall in the saddle. Most people have terrible posture. Keep your heels down, or if it is easier to remember - toes up! And when holding the reins, don't hold them like this," Sara demonstrated turning her hands with the knuckles on top and her thumbs on the side, "this is what I tell the kids - hold them like you are holding a cup of hot cocoa, and keep your thumbs up." Sara then moved her hands into the proper position, "if you don't hold the reins as such, the cocoa will spill on your horse. We don't want that!" She thought a moment, then continued, "riding is more about balance than grip. Your muscles will be active without being tense and you don't want to be a clothespin on your horse's back. So just let your leg hang from the hip, allow your weight to fall down on your heel. Lastly...don't forget to breathe. Do you have any questions?"

Loki had quite a few. Being an accomplished rider himself, he couldn't help but ask certain questions to her. I soon understood that this wasn't just about Loki caring about my safety, it was also him learning about how Midgardians did things compared to Asgardians. Even though I could see a bit of frustration on Sara's face, she maintained a professional demeanour and answered every question Loki posed.

After that, Sara made sure I was 'cleared' to ride. Loki also took a look at how I was sitting in the saddle, the way I held the reins and the position of my legs in the stirrups.

Loki smiled up at me, then patted my leg, "ready?"

"You bet," I said, returning his smile.

Loki then sidled up to Doodlebug's head and stroked her muzzle. He carefully reached out to grasp part of her bridle and gently tugged - her head moved down enough so her ear was close to Loki's mouth, "delightful Doodlebug, please take care of my friend. She's very special to me."

I couldn't be sure, but from where I sitting, Doodlebug seemed to make a motion with her head to the affirmative...

After that, my friend walked over to Major. The way Loki mounted him and settled into the saddle was nothing short of graceful - but I wouldn't have suspected otherwise.

"All right," Sara said, mounting Tanner just as easily as Loki. "Let's head out."

****

Sara was right, this rural area had a countryside that was beautiful. I so wanted to grab my smartphone and take some pictures, but I knew the best thing right now was to focus on what I was doing and not get distracted. I recalled a quote from a science-fiction movie, "be one with the horse" and I was going to do just that. Maybe on the ride back, I would be more comfortable to risk it, or I could ask Sara to let us stop for a moment.

"Beverlee," Loki said, "thank you for this. I couldn't ask for a better reward."

"Well, you earned it," I stated, "and I'm glad to be able to share in it with you."

"Reward, huh?" Sara said, "If I may ask, what did this fine gentleman do to earn a trail ride?"

"Let's just say," I said wryly, glancing at Loki, "he made a world of difference by going against his better nature."

"Well, whatever you did," Sara said, looking at Loki, "that definitely is deserving of a reward."

"Thank you," Loki said. His face lit up at the compliment.

"Would you both like to pick up the pace?" Sara asked. "We've been walking for a while, maybe a bit of trot is in order?"

"Beverlee?" Loki asked, looking at me to be sure I was okay with it.

I nodded.

It wasn't bad going at a trot. Perhaps it was because of Sara's instructions I felt more comfortable with what we were doing. The trail ride in my memory never had any kind of 'Trot Talk' - we just climbed on and rode.

We reached a bend in the trail. It was obvious that Doodlebug had done this route more than several times, as she smoothly turned on the path.

I couldn't believe how at ease I felt. Balanced in the saddle, relaxed and enjoying this quicker pace. It made it easy to trust Doodlebug and just focus on the ride and the surroundings.

And then I heard the killer words.

"Would you like to go even faster?" Sara asked. "It's not a trail ride without a bit of a lope..."

So much for feeling comfortable.

I didn't want to tense up and be that proverbial clothespin on Doodlebugs back. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes, trying to prepare myself for what we were about to do.

"Beverlee," Loki said, "I've been watching you. You've got this."

"You think so?" I asked with worry. "Before, I..."

"But this is now," Loki interrupted. "And you know what you're doing. You've trusted Doodlebug this far..."

"You're right," I said, taking a deep breath. "Okay, let's do this."

"Hey," Sara said to Loki, "if she's not ready for it, we shouldn't push her."

"No, it's okay," I said. "Loki's right, I need to do this. I... have to do this."

"You don't have to do anything," Sara clarified. "I don't want you or Doodlebug to get hurt."

"We won't. I need to prove to myself what you said earlier about trust," I implored, looking at Sara. "I want to do this. Please." 

Sara shrugged, "okay, but we'll only do a short burst. The horses know my signal to lope and then stop."

She gave the signal.

Our horses began to lope.

For a split second, I had trepidation, but I hung on, following the instructions that Sara had given us.

"You're doing it!" I heard Loki call out to me.

He was right, I was actually riding a horse at a lope, and... I was enjoying it!

I didn't know how long we had been going at a lope, but at the moment it didn't matter. I hoped Sara would at least keep us going for a minute. Knowing I COULD do this, it felt so empowering!

All of a sudden - there was a loud BANG in the distance, followed by a sound of crackling.

It was definitely the sound of a firecracker!

Unfortunately, the loud noise spooked Doodlebug...

...and she began to bolt.


	12. Major Rescue

Just hang on, I told myself, keep following instructions...

However, the word 'whoa' did not work!

Attempting to give gentle direction to Doodlebug with my legs wasn't exactly working either. Then I thought about Loki's advice - if he was spooked by something, I'd be there and ride it out with him until he was okay...

Don't get me wrong, I was scared, but because I was already semi-comfortable with the pace of a lope, I was able to focus my mind a little a bit. I knew had to let Doodlebug run until she felt safe.

But where was she taking me? Thank goodness this area was flat!

I swear I could hear voices behind me, but I dared not turn my head to look, I had to hang on to the reins and focus on what was ahead.

But it was starting to get to be a little too much for me...

Then I heard a familiar voice call out my name...

"Beverlee, hang on!" 

I risked a quick glance in the direction of where I heard the voice - sure enough, Loki had caught up beside me with Major. 

"Keep going!" he advised. "I'll stay alongside, if she doesn't stop, I'll try plan B!"

Fear prevented me from talking and I tried to nod, but with the motion of the horse, it was hard to do. To acknowledge, I quickly lifted one of my hands that already had the thumb up - thanks to Sara's instructions.

But despite the fear, I now had a sense of renewed hope and felt that my chances of getting out of this in one piece just doubled.

It had been another minute, or least felt like it, and Doodlebug still had not stopped. How long would Loki wait before implementing his 'Plan B', I wondered. But I trusted when the time came, he would do what was needed.

In the distance, an area of open pasture came into view...

I began to have an inkling of what Loki was planning.

"Get ready for Plan B!" he called out to me.

Even with letting me know that he was going to make his move, there was no way I could prepare for it. I was doing everything I could do at this point - short of offering up a silent prayer... which I did.

Reaching the edge of the pasture, Loki propelled Major to overtake Doodlebug, then drove her into the area. Whether it was the feel of soft grass under her hooves or that she was tired from running - most probably a bit of both - Doodlebug finally slowed down then came to a stop.

My mind was a jumble. I wasn't sure what to do except breathe.

It was then I saw Loki dismount and walk over to Doodlebug. He looked at her face-to-face. Grasping part of her bridle, he gave it a careful tug, then said, "it's not your fault," he then stroked her muzzle. "Good girl... and thank you for not throwing my friend."

Sara soon arrived on the scene with Tanner. She dismounted, then walked over to me, "are you all right? How is Doodlebug?"

"I... I..." It was hard to talk as my brain was starting to process what had just happened to me.

"You see to Doodlebug," Loki said to Sara. "I'll tend to Beverlee."

Sara nodded.

Loki helped me dismount. Once my feet touched the ground, he immediately lifted me up in his arms, then carried me over to a nearby area of the pasture. He sat down cross-legged and held me on his lap. His arms enfolded around me in a warm hug.

"Are you hurt?" Loki whispered, with concern. "You were loping on that saddle for a long time..."

"I don't think so," I replied, feeling a blush to my cheeks. "But as for my muscles, I won't know the extent of that until later on in the day or tomorrow."

"I'm so sorry," Loki said, stroking my back. "You must have been so scared."

I took a deep breath. The fear and dread I had suppressed during this predicament - it was starting to surface. Tears were welling up in my eyes and could feel my body trembling. Within the security of Loki's arms, I allowed myself to release the pent up energy - and clutched Loki tightly.

"It's okay, let it out," he said softly. "I've got you." He lightly kissed the top of my head, "Beverlee, you were so brave! I'm very proud of how you kept your head during this situation. Just breathe, you're going to be fine."

After a few minutes, my shaking and tears soon subsided.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I didn't mean to ruin your reward..."

"Ruin my reward?" Loki asked, surprised. "No way. If anything, you've added to it! I got to save my clever girl and hold her in my arms."

"My hero," I said softly.

"I hope you're not afraid or cross at Doodlebug after this?" Loki asked.

"I'm not," I replied. "I know she was simply spooked. I was just along for the ride."

"Is Beverlee okay?" Sara had walked over to us.

"I'm... fine," I was able to say.

"That firecracker we heard? They were setting up for our Hallowe'en show tonight." Sara explained. "They had a technical malfunction. Knowing that Loki is the horseman that he is and was determined to go after you, I made a quick decision to trust him, then rode over to find out what the deal was with the show people, to make sure no one was hurt. Thankfully, no one was." Sara looked at Loki, "Doodlebug is fine, she's calmed down considerably. And I think Major quite enjoyed that run. I can't be sure, but he's got a look in his eye like he wants another go."

"Does he?" Loki smiled up at Sara. "Well maybe we can before going back to the stable." Loki whispered to me, "what do you say, Beverlee?"

"I need to see Doodlebug first," I replied.

Loki helped me stand up, and I tested my legs. They felt a bit sore and shaky, but I could still walk normally. We both went over to Doodlebug.

Reaching up to grasp part of her bridle, and without even a tug from me, Doodlebug lowered her head to face mine. Looking at her for a moment, I began to stroke her muzzle, "I'm glad you're all right," I said in a gentle tone. "Even when you were spooked, I was able to trust you, and I still do." Doodlebug moved her head to nuzzle my shoulder, "I'm okay," I whispered, thinking her behaviour a gesture of apology.

"Ready to get back on the horse, Beverlee?" Loki asked while stroking Doodlebugs neck.

I nodded.

*****

Despite the little hiccup with Doodlebug's bolting, the remainder of the ride was lovely. I even was able to take some snaps with my phone. Upon reaching the midway point in the trail, we had the horses walk back the rest of the way to make sure they were sufficiently cooled down by the time we returned to the stables.

Once we all dismounted, Loki made a request to Sara.

"Would it be too much of an imposition if we helped you with post-ride grooming care for Doodlebug and Major?"

"You'd really want to do that?" Sara asked. "I don't believe anyone has ever asked me that before..." she smiled at Loki. "Well, it would make things go a bit quicker, and give me a bit more time to be ready for the next group... Sure! They're done for today anyway."

She gestured with her head for us to follow her, with the horses in tow, into the stable.

To make things a bit easier, Sara removed Doodlebug's and Major's bridles. Putting on their halters, she then lead each of them to a hitching area - and did the same with Tanner.

Taking the role of our guide once again, step by step, we followed her instructions. Carefully, we took off the horses' saddle and blanket.

"First we need to remove any excess sweat and dirt," Sara said. "In the summer we would use a spray washer to hose them down, but during autumn into winter, we simply use these..."

Sara then introduced us to the grooming supplies - although Loki was pretty familiar with some of them by the way they were configured; sweat scrapers, curry combs, stiff and soft brushes and hoof picks.

Sara began by handing each of us a sweat scraper and showed us how to use them on our horses - applying moderate pressure, moving the scraper in a quick downward motion over their body to clean effectively.

"This is also the time where I take a closer look to evaluate any injuries," Sara said, pointing out specific areas to us to keep a watchful eye as we 'scraped.' After a few minutes of her examining Doodlebug and Major, then a moment with Tanner, she gave us a thumbs up. "Well, it appears they seem just fine. We can proceed with the rest of the grooming now."

I briefly watched how Loki was effortlessly grooming Major as if the horse was his very own. I could see by the expression on his face he was enjoying this. Even Major, by his body language, seemed to be conveying the same. As Loki continued his tasks, I could also see he occasionally talked to Major. I smiled to myself - somehow, I wouldn't have been a bit surprised to learn that they both understood each other.

Similarly, taking care of Doodlebug's grooming was just as pleasant a task. There's something to be said about a traumatic event that brings you together. Somehow, I couldn't get enough of combing and brushing her - it felt so Zen. Not only was this relaxing Doodlebug, but it was relaxing me as well. Even carefully cleaning her hooves with that special pick, it all felt like a special experience.

The grooming completed, Sara then handed us two buckets, then picked up one herself and directed us on how to fill them with water. We then brought them over to Doodlebug and Major. Sara brought hers to Tanner. They all drank thirstily from them.

"They haven't had an adventure like that for a long time," Sara said. "And by the way they are drinking, looks like they really worked up quite a sweat, we might have to give them another bucket."

And we did!

"Now we take them to a corral to relax. Follow me," Sara said.

Having no problems leading our horses into a corral, Sara then showed us how to clean the tack.

Wiping down our saddles, girth, and bridle with saddle soap, we removed all the sweat and dirt that had accumulated. Then we gave a good rinse to the horses' bits with water.

Sara thanked us for our help, then I walked over to pick up my backpack I had stored on a bench in the stable during our ride.

"Beverlee," Loki said, putting a hand on my shoulder and gesturing for me to sit down on the bench beside him. "I have to tell you something."

"Of course," I said as I sat, noticing his serious tone of voice. "What is it?"

"When Doodlebug got spooked, the way she was running... the look of fear on your face," Loki took a deep breath. "It triggered a memory. A time when I was frightened, when I had to break into a gallop... I also had a harrowing experience. You see... a horse... hurt me."

"How?" I grasped his arm, looking at him with concern.

"That is a story for another time," he pulled me into a hug, a rather tight one. "I'm just so glad you didn't come to any harm. If something had happened..."

"But it didn't. I have you... and Major to thank for that..." I said, holding him just as tight. "Loki, are you all right?"

"Of course I am," he said, releasing the hug a bit to look at me. "I'm with you."

While I didn't quite understand what Loki had just told me, I knew he had just trusted me with something that was deeply personal. Something that profoundly affected him.

Now, discussing troublesome matters from his past wasn't unusual for us, but from what I recall, he never before was this spontaneous.

Although we already had a strongly established mutual respect for each other, it seems something had changed.

For the better.

Releasing one of my hands, I reached up to touch his cheek, "and I... see you."


	13. Inspired To Make A Difference

Before slinging my backpack over my shoulder, I opened it up to grab two apples we had bought for snacks. Loki and I walked over to our Trail Guide.

"Oh, Sara," I said, "can you give these to Doodlebug and Major? They definitely earned them."

"You bet, thank you. They love apples!" Sara smiled. "You both will always be welcome here. Hope you have a great rest of the day."

Loki and I then exited the stables. We walked back to the Welcome Centre area - hand in hand.

****

We decided to partake of some ears of roasted corn and share a large mug of hot apple cider to celebrate our efforts. In the Welcome area, there were plenty of hay bales around for the public in which to sit and rest or to enjoy purchases of food from the trucks and vendors. We found one big enough for both of us to sit.

While eating, we watched the people come and go through this high traffic area. After a few minutes, we saw two women and eight kids that we had met earlier...

"They made it!" I said in a happy tone. "That's great!"

"I bet Abigail showed them the way," Loki said in amusement, taking a sip of cider.

"No doubt."

We continued to watch as Vera and Sally took the kids to a food truck. Getting them some hot dogs and drinks, they found a place with a few hay bales to have them all sit and eat.

"Should we go over to them?" Loki asked.

"Wait till they finish eating," I replied, with a smile. "You know, asides from Abigail running off, I'm very impressed how well-behaved these kids are."

"Considering they had nothing but each other to rely on could be the reason."

"Perhaps," I said, watching as the eight kids were happily talking and laughing among each other while eating, "but it looks like those workers also treat them well. They don't appear to be holding back their fun or ignoring Vera and Sally."

"I don't understand," Loki said. "Certainly there is a system or systems where the welfare of Midgardian children such as these are given proper care?"

"There is," I replied, with a sheepish look. "But like anything, there are organizations who partake of that system that are good and some not-so-good. For many, it's become more about the money than the care of the children. Some want to line their pockets, while others can't afford to get them the care they need."

"That's terrible!" Loki said, aghast.

"It is," I nodded. "I had friends who went through a special program to become foster parents, and the kids they fostered for years, had to go back to the parents and guardians sooner than expected... all because the budget of their agency had been severely cut."

"Children should not have to shoulder such burdens," Loki said.

"You're preaching to the choir, dear friend," I concurred. "Sadly, some fall through the cracks of the system."

"If there was only something we could do," Loki said.

"There is," I said, with a knowing smile, my hand reaching into my pocket...

But I was interrupted by a familiar voice...

"Hi!"

It was Abigail, standing before us, and she was holding a small orange plastic bag.

"Hi, Abigail," I said, giving her a warm smile. "It's good to see you again."

"Did you have fun in the maze?" Loki asked, also smiling at her.

"I did! It only took us an hour!" she said with pride.

"Well done!" I said and made a high-five gesture with my hand to which Abigail responded.

Loki followed my lead and Abigail high-fived him too.

"Thank you for helping me when I was lost," she said, looking shy.

"It was our pleasure to help you," I said.

Abigail handed me the orange bag, "Sally and Vera wanted me to give you this for helping me. They also wanted to know..." she shyly looked down at her feet, "if you wanted to join us."

Although she was acting shy, I could tell from Abigail's expression she really wanted us to say yes. I couldn't blame her for feeling that way, as it must be rare to meet new people, let alone ones that are kind to children.

Opening the bag to given us, I showed the contents to Loki. Inside were two Hershey Milk Chocolate Bars. I smiled. There was no way they could have known that these were one of the confections I always enjoyed bringing back home from a trip to the USA. These were also readily available in Canada, but there was just something about the American made product that I found - psychosomatic or not - more appealing.

"Aww, that's so sweet of them, they didn't have to," I said to Abigail. "Tell them thank you and we'll be along shortly."

"Okay!" Abigail said sweetly, smiling at us, then sped off excitedly.

"Such a sweet girl," I said, looking on as Abigail made her way back to her group, then put the orange bag in the backpack. "So where were we?" I turned to face Loki.

"I believe you were about to tell me what we could do to help children in unfortunate circumstances."

"Yes, I was," I said, reaching into my pocket again. Once I pulled the item out, I reached for Loki's arm, and with my other hand, put the item in his palm where instinctively took it with his fingers, "fundraising."

It was the card Alice had given us at the diner.

Loki looked at the card, looked up to glance at the children, then back to face me.

"You want me to perform in front of an audience of Midgardians?" Loki asked in anticipation.

"I most certainly do," I looked into his eyes. "You've shown me what you're capable of when we were in room thirty-six, and more of it today in the diner and even on the subway." I placed a hand on his shoulder, "that fundraiser will be so lucky to have you entertain them."

"You mean us," Loki corrected.

"What?"

"You don't think I would do this without you?" he smiled warmly. "From what I understand, Midgardian magicians are allowed to have assistants - why shouldn't I have one?"

"Good point," I said, returning his smile. "I'm in."

Taking our now bare corn cobs, Loki walked over to toss them into the appropriate bin nearby, then returned to stand at the bale where I was sitting. He offered me his arm.

Slinging the backpack over my shoulder, then picking up our mug of cider, I linked my arm in his and walked over to join the Found And Abound bunch for some pleasant conversation. 

****

There is an adage, 'outside of your comfort zone is where the magic happens.' Our experience on the farm was quite enchanting for so many reasons.

And now knowing that we were going to attempt to take on another new challenge together, I was eager with anticipation on what more magic we could create.

The idea of both Loki and I appearing at that charity fundraiser became our main topic for discussion. Loki's expertise as a Drama Major came out full force, and we began to bounce several ideas off each other of what we could do and how to make it happen.

Employing my skills in Creative Communications, with a major in Advertising and a minor in Public Relations, I would be Loki's proverbial agent. I would make the call in the morning to get him an audition. There was much to consider, so much, in fact, I jotted our thoughts down on an app on my smartphone as we walked along the way to the subway station.

It was now early afternoon, and depending on our travel time to our next destination, it would soon become dark - the best time to see other parts of New York.

"Where to next, Beverlee?" Loki asked.

"How about taking a cruise?" I replied. "After all that walking, it would be nice to just sit and enjoy the view."

Loki nodded keenly, "agreed. Which one should we take?"

My smartphone still in hand, I began to search what was available, as well as being easy to get to from our vicinity. One caught our attention - a New York City Harbor Lights Night Cruise. From where we stood, we just needed to catch a Jamaica Line Orange Route to Rockefeller Centre, then catch a cab to the pier.

Child's play.

After purchasing the cruise line tickets online, we entered the subway station - but I stopped us before going down the stairs to the subway platform.

"Wait," I said.

"What's wrong?" Loki asked.

To prevent what happened during our last ride, I suggested that Loki change his appearance.

"Good idea, my clever girl," Loki said, "do you have a preference?"

"Maybe something very different," I said. "Perhaps, short blonde curly hair?"

"Something like this?" Loki asked.

As long as it was presentable, for this public, any appearance Loki chose to change into wouldn't have mattered. But knowing who he was, he always took a certain pride in making himself look good - and this time was no different. Even with the simple parameters I had suggested, he sported the illusion of an elegant visage. 

"Perfect." I smiled.

Normally a transformation such as this, or anything that was supernatural taking place in front of many people would get noticed. However, this was a subway station, where everyone had a place to go and was hurriedly making their way to get to it. No one was or had been paying attention to us, and was glad of it.

We headed down to the platform...


	14. Cruisin' Together

The taxi we took from Grand Central Station dropped us off in front of a long rectangular building with green trim, located at Pier 83 on 42nd Street. It had the words 'Circle-Line' in large red letters along with a circle on top of it depicting the Statue of Liberty.

It was where our cruise ship awaited us.

Just like the farm we had left, this seemed to be another popular place, as we could see there were many groups of people around the area, some arriving like us, others departing.

Checking my watch, it appeared we had arrived a little more than an hour before our departure time, as was requested on the website. Coming early also meant the possibility of having a better choice of seating.

I soon noticed Loki was staring at something across the way, which caused an odd expression to appear on his face. Turning to see what it was, I discovered it was the USS Intrepid - obviously a military vessel.

"It's been awhile since I've been this close to an aircraft carrier," Loki said.

"How do you mean?" I asked, curious.

"When I arrived on Midgard, for the reasons I now wear this," Loki touched the wrist part of his sleeve that concealed his tracker, "there was a duration I was held in custody on one of them."

"Oh... that was the, umm, SHIELD Helicarrier, right?" I said, "Thor told me a little bit about that. It was during that time when we, umm, first met at the auxiliary SHIELD facility..."

"And what did Thor tell you?" Loki looked concerned.

"All he told me," I replied, "was that they confined you in a glass-like enclosure. You later tricked Thor, trapped him inside it while you escaped and well," I paused for a moment, then added in a sheepish voice, "what happened to Coulson."

"And upon learning this..." Loki's look of concern changed into one that was incredulous, "you still... wanted to help me?"

"Yes," I simply said. There was nothing else I could say.

Even with the illusion of Loki wearing a different face, he couldn't hide the glistening moisture that now appeared in his eyes. He took my hands, interlaced them in our special way, and we just looked at each other for a few minutes in silence, which spoke volumes.

"Come on," I said, breaking the silence, "let's get out of here and find where we have to board."

Loki nodded in earnest.

****

There was plenty of clear signage, which made it easy to find our way. We learned all passengers had to pass through a security screening, but that was easy enough for us (and extra relief for me, as I realized after the fact, due to Loki's magic, he was able to conceal whatever he usually carried on his person).

After that - along with a trip to the restrooms - we then walked over to the main dock and began to wait along with the other eager passengers.

Our efforts on the farm and the journey to get here left Loki and I pretty dehydrated and really hungry. We had eaten all our snacks and finished the last two bottles of water in the backpack while in the taxi.

"We'll get something to eat while on board," I promised.

"That would be perfect," Loki replied. "Beverlee," he said, with a hesitant look on his face, "did... Thor also tell you what happened once I trapped him in that enclosure?"

I shook my head to the negative.

"It was shortly after what I did... to Coulson," his eyes downcast. "Earlier that day, as a tactic to keep me in line, Agent Nick Fury had threatened to eject the confinement enclosure from the Helicarrier, and he demonstrated how he would on a control panel... to which I was very attentive. When I tricked Thor into entering the enclosure, I pressed those buttons and..." he closed his eyes, "well, at the time, it was necessary... at least, it felt that way."

I reached out and put my hand on his arm, "Loki, we both know you were... persuaded by that... maniac... to do his bidding in an effort to fulfill his nefarious plans... As for the strategy you chose, well, I'm sure it didn't help matters when your own priorities at that time, shall I say... were very misguided?" I looked at him closely, "Thor still lives, and from what I see, he isn't holding a grudge. And... I assure you, telling me this doesn't change anything between us."

Suddenly there was a sound of a horn in the distance. Our ship was coming into it's designated berth.

As we watched the vessel effect docking procedures in preparation for boarding, Loki stood behind me and put his hands on my shoulders. Leaning in close, he whispered huskily in my ear, "Beverlee, you are more precious than... infinity stones."

I turned my head, smiling at him with a look of utter happiness.

****

Once embarking the vessel, we made our way to the top deck and looked at the seating arrangement. There were two sections of seating, one port side, the other starboard, with a wide aisle in the middle. In truth, there really wasn't any bad seating here, as it was an open area with nothing to obstruct the view.

But where would be the best place for us to sit? With the people ahead of us taking favourable spots, we maneuvered as quickly as we could - finding a pair of seats midway down the row in the port side section by the railing.

It didn't take long for the seating to fill up with passengers, but we knew we still had to wait for a bit before they set sail. Before we had climbed the steps up here, we had located the concession area on the lower deck. We decided it would be best to get some food now, so it wouldn't distract from our experience later.

I had Loki to save our seats while I headed down to the lower deck.

Due to it being still early before departure, I was lucky that the concession area didn't have a lot of people in line. But I actually was glad to have some people ahead of me, so I could get a chance to peruse the menu. There were some really delicious items listed, but only one caught my attention.

Considering I was in New York, it really was the only option I could choose to make this an extra special experience for Loki and myself...

When I returned topside, my hands carefully held a box tray with our food and beverages. I took my time wading through the people in our row to get to my friend.

"I got us both the 'Coney Island Special,'" I said, as I sat down and handed Loki a warm wrapped item from the tray.

Loki looked at the item and took notice of the wrapping. His eyes lit up and he smiled, "a Nathan's hot dog? Oh, Beverlee," he turned to look at me, his hand cupped my cheek. "I haven't had one of these for ages. Thank you!"

I felt my jaw drop.

Just as I was about to say something, suddenly a voice in the row behind us said, "ages? Son, I remember meeting Mr. Nathan Handwerker himself at Coney Island when I was just a boy in the 1930s."

We turned our heads. The person who spoke was a silver-haired elderly man wearing black frame brown lens sunglasses, wearing a leather jacket over a green v-neck sweater with a white dress shirt underneath it.

Loki smiled at the man, holding his hot dog up for emphasis, "a man whose legacy still continues to live on today, and most likely, long into the future."

"Damn straight," the man said, now looking at the both of us. "Where you kids from?"

Loki glanced at me with affection, then again turned to face the man, "we're from Canada."

The man smiled, "welcome to New York."

We nodded, said thank you, then returned our focus back to our food. Despite that we were hungry, somehow, after that brief exchange, the hot dogs seemed to taste that much better.

"Loki," I said, once we finished eating, "hang on a sec," I took a napkin from the tray box and gently wiped a tiny bit of mustard off his cheek.

"Thanks, mom," he playfully smirked.

****

The vessel set sail as twilight began to descend over the city. I noticed the sky and clouds had a pinkish hue, something I had never before seen - it was beautiful.

The sun was very golden in the sky, and it was also a lovely sight seeing it's light sparkle off the windows of the tall and shiny buildings.

A light breeze wafted over me, and it felt good. I had wondered if what I was wearing would be warm enough for this trip, and luckily it seemed to suffice. I knew if it became too cold we could go into the covered area on this deck, although the view wouldn't be the same.

"Our city is known for its famous sunsets," a baritone voice soon boomed over the speakers on deck, "in turn, it sets the tone for this trip - and it puts you in a good mood. Welcome aboard the Circle Line New York City Harbour Lights Cruise. My name is Kieran and I'll be narrating your journey this evening."

This narrator was right. While there had been nothing wrong with my current mood, what I had just experienced in these few minutes, it had certainly enhanced it.

Then I felt Loki's arm come around me.

I turned to look at him, and upon seeing the smile on his face, it was easy to see I wasn't the only one in a good mood.

****

During our tour upon the water, we got to see many icons, which included the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building and One World Trade Center. 

We would encounter several more on the way, but there was one I was looking forward to seeing most eagerly...

The pink sky was slowly disappearing, a dusky one beginning to take its place.

While Kieran narrated each area with a personal touch, it came to a point where I began to tune out and just enjoyed what appeared in front of us. Besides, when you're with a group of people on a tour like this, many make their own commentaries along the way, which they were doing - but it was all good.

Then... she came into view... holding a torch and a tablet.

The Statue of Liberty.

Although I knew Ellis Island was the location of where immigrants originally disembarked to start new lives, seeing this tremendous iconic statue was a big part of the experience of going there, well at least since 1886. I tried to imagine how I would feel if I had been one of those people, an immigrant from a different country arriving in yet another different country.

Then I realized... I was WITH an immigrant from a strange land. Someone who already had surreptitiously immigrated here as a refugee - and could also be considered, amusingly enough, an illegal alien, in more ways than one.

I looked at my friend with affection. He may have previously visited Midgard quite a few times, but he was always able to return to Asgard and continue on with his way of life. Now that Midgard was his new home, it suddenly occurred to me that it might have been a difficult transition, at least at first, for him.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Loki asked me with a smile. "I'm hoping that sweet expression has something to do with me."

"It does," I happily admitted. "I was just thinking about when you became a 'permanent resident' here. How it must have been an adjustment for you."

"No one has ever asked me that before," he said, with a rueful expression. After a moment of thought, he continued, "although I knew how to speak and read the language, I was living, well more like surviving day to day, unsure where I was supposed to belong in this place. My brother attempted to give me assistance, but it still was a very trying time. And then the probation..." he sighed, but then a small smile returned to his face, "it was only after I met you..." he took my hands into his own, then looked into my eyes. "You calmed that chaos. And you showed me that... despite my imposed constraints... I could still find freedom."

His words touched me deeply and I looked at him with a renewed expression of affection.

It was at that moment the tour guide said, "the statue is an icon of freedom and of the United States: a welcoming signal to immigrants arriving from abroad."

We both turned to again look at the Statue of Liberty then turned back to each other.

"See?" I said, with a grin on my face. "The United States accepts all aliens and welcomes them."

"That's nice..." Loki said, releasing one of his hands, reaching up to gently caress my cheek. With a playful grin appearing on his face, he added, "but I'm a... Canadian."


	15. Times Square

The last part of the tour was seeing - and going under - three bridges: Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Williamsburg. By the time the ship turned to go on its return route, the city was now under the cover of night.

It was what I had been waiting for all day - and was not disappointed.

The skyline of the city, all lit up in the darkness was stunning. With this lovely backdrop, I couldn't resist taking a few snaps with my phone - along with a selfie of Loki and myself.

Although the tour had taken roughly two hours, it seemed time just flew - and I wasn't ready for this cruise to be on its the last leg of the journey.

"Promise me we will do this again," Loki said wistfully, "because right now, I'm very tempted to cause some mischief and have this vessel experience technical difficulties... so we can stay out here longer."

"You always say the sweetest things," I said, looking at him fondly, "and I'm almost tempted to let you do it," I chuckled. "But I promise you that we will. Next summer?"

Loki took my hand and kissed the back of it, "it's a date."

****

Although both of us were mentally kicking and screaming as we disembarked the ship, after a few minutes of walking down 42nd Street, our thoughts were sufficiently diverted.

We had reached the area of Times Square.

From what we observed, just from afar, it was an extremely busy area. The street was teeming with people, most of them in a rush. The iconic billboards, which immediately grabbed our attention, were bigger than I could have ever imaged - and so bright, each of them lighting up several blocks! Also, on each of those blocks, stood very tall buildings that had more than earned their title of 'skyscrapers'.

I stopped walking, and so did Loki. We just stood there, transfixed, taking in this dazzling destination.

"Oh, I like this," Loki said, turning to look at me with an excited smile.

"Of course you would," I smiled back, pointing down the street, "we're close to the theatre district."

"Then that's worth a look," Loki said, incredibly eager and taking my hand.

"Wait," I said, "with all these people rushing about, I think it's safe for you to be... you again."

"I almost forgot about that," Loki said, with a chuckle. He turned to face a wall behind us, then after a moment turned back around to face me, "better?"

I had sure missed that handsome face, and the dark hair that framed his features.

"Much," I replied, smiling at him sweetly.

****

Meandering the streets, and enjoying our surroundings, we couldn't help but talk - and laugh a little - about the titles we saw on the billboards for the shows that were currently running. One, in particular, caught our attention...

"Pretty Woman!" Loki exclaimed. "They made a musical about that?"

"It is a popular movie," I said, "so I'm actually not surprised." A thought came to me, "being the Drama Major you are, wouldn't it be wonderful to someday see your name in lights on one of these billboards?"

"You mean like this?" he waved his hand and suddenly his name was on one of them, replacing one of the cast.

I opened my mouth, about to tell him to take it down before anyone noticed, but then I took an extra second to look at it.

His name did look wonderful up there.

"If you were in one of these productions, after the show, I'd wait in a mass lineup by the stage door for you," I said.

"No, you wouldn't," Loki said, pulling me to him, "you'd be in my dressing room after the final bows. We'd have some, what is that beverage Midgardians drink to celebrate? Oh... champagne, then I would take you to an after-party."

I smiled up at him, "I'd like that very much."

"Let's get something to drink," Loki said. "Preferably, at some outdoor venue."

I nodded, then made a gesture with my head to the billboard with his name on it.

Loki smirked, waved his hand again and the lead actor's name reappeared.

****

Continuing to walk down 42nd Street to 43rd, we discovered there were several kiosks that served various types of street-food, some kiosks even housed two or more vendors. Each of them also had a small area with tables and chairs.

We settled on a place called Wafels & Dinges. We got a couple of teas and shared a large Brussels Wafel topped with plenty of strawberries and spekuloos spread. Neither of us had ever tried spekuloos before, but it was absolutely delicious.

Sipping our teas quietly, we just people-watched for a while. Loki and I would pick out the odd person from the crowd and imagine what their story was or where they might be heading.

"By the look on his face, he's either heading for the stage door... or making up with his lover," I said, seeing a man carrying a large bouquet of flowers.

"Perhaps both," Loki said, taking another sip of his tea. "As you are aware, the acting world can be fraught with discord, as per what I've seen in the Midgardian entertainment news."

"I know what you're saying. Was it any different on Asgard?" I asked.

"Quite," Loki replied, "they... we... knew their place and worth. Of course, everyone had ambitions wanting to be more, but never took the extreme and shameful measures that I've read about here. But then, our way of life is quite different from yours. For example, when it comes to making life choices, we take our time to make sure it's what we want. This probably is most likely because of our lifespans, but it has served us well."

"What lovely wisdom," I said, putting my hand on my friend's arm. "As it has also served us well."

Loki smiled proudly, "that it has, Beverlee," and put his hand atop mine that was on his arm. "That it has."

Then, all of a sudden, there was a blank look on Loki's face.

I recognized that look - it was when someone he knew was in his proximity.

My friend turned to stare at a middle-aged man who had just entered our small enclosed area, walked past our table and approached the kiosk's counter to place an order. This man was of medium height with close-cropped dark blond hair with a content expression on his face.

"Can it be?" Loki said in a breath. "Excuse me, Beverlee, I'll be right back." He stood from the table and walked over to the man.

I was curious and concerned to find out who this Midgardian, other than myself, that Loki had had such a connection. In fact, he did seem familiar, but his face didn't register right away...

As I watched Loki approach and greet him, the look on the man's face changed from being content to uneasy and alarmed.

What was Loki doing?

Then I looked again at the man's face.

Wait - that wasn't...

My eyes widened in recognition...

It was!

I stood up to go over to them, but found I didn't have to - Loki escorted him (with some reluctance?) to our table.

"Beverlee..." Loki said quietly, "I need your help to, ah.... put something right. Allow me to introduce you to Matt," Loki said with a shy smile.

"Matt... Damon?" I asked to clarify, in an incredulous tone.

Loki nodded.

"Hi," Matt said, his voice nervous. His eyes appeared to convey the same as if he was crying out for help.

I had no idea what was going on here, but I had to do something to alleviate this awkward situation.

And how on Earth did Loki know Matt Damon?!

I touched Matt's arm in a friendly manner, "it's great to meet you. I love your movies." Pulling over an empty chair from a nearby table so he could sit with us, I glanced at Loki and then back to Matt, giving him a sympathetic smile. "It's okay, we just want to talk. I promise we won't keep you long."

We all sat down, with Matt looking resigned. But I didn't blame him. Even I was curious to hear what my friend was about to say.

"Matt," Loki said, his voice thoughtful, "this is my dear friend Beverlee." He glanced at me, then looked back to Matt, "it's because of her positive influence, I need to tell you how sorry I am for what I did." With downcast eyes, Loki continued, "I wanted the best talent for my play, so when I overheard you talking with your friends about wanting to try theatre... I know it was wrong..." Loki looked up at Matt with hesitation, "but in the end, your performance was fantastic."

Matt glanced at Loki, then did a double-take. It's like he couldn't believe what he just heard. He turned to look at me.

Surprise, then disbelief, crossed my features.

Loki had kidnapped Matt Damon to perform in a play... on Asgard?!

I took a deep breath

I took a deep breath. Despite how I was feeling, I had to put that aside and support him. It was, after all, part of our 'Friendship Agreement.'

"Matt... Loki may have a silver tongue, but what he's saying to you is sincere," I assured. "Whatever inconvenience this caused you and your family, I hope... in time... you can forgive him."

Looking at both of us, Matt sat there for a moment thinking.

As he did so, I looked at Loki. I could see the concern on his face. He had taken a big risk to attempt contrition, knowing that there could be major consequences.

But taking risks was part of who my friend was - and no matter what happened next, I was proud of him. Taking his hand, I gave him an encouraging smile.

Then Matt spoke.

"What you did was unspeakable..." he said with an impassive expression. "Really, I couldn't tell anyone the truth, because I knew they wouldn't believe me." Then Matt's expression softened, "however, all you have in the end is to look back... and like the choices you've made. You did give me the opportunity to try my hand at theatre. I believe I'm better off after having worked with others from your world. You didn't threaten me, I didn't come to any harm, and you arranged it that no one knew I was missing. But most importantly, you returned me to my family, alive and well."

"I'm still terribly sorry for what I did to you... for my own narcissistic self-glorification," Loki said.

"But it was one heckuva play," Matt said with a wry smile. "Did you really turn Thor into a frog?"

Loki smirked.

Matt conversed with us for a few more minutes then picked up his order from the kiosk. While he may not have been fully over what Loki had done, at least whatever feelings he had been harbouring had been addressed. Matt was also gracious, leaving the door open for any possible contact in the future.

Before he departed, Matt put a hand on my shoulder, "Beverlee, I've very glad to have met you. I don't think I would have believed any of what Loki said without you here. I'm glad someone has been able to bring out his humanity."

"Well," I concluded, with a proud smile, "for you to even recognize that Loki has that - it makes ME very glad."

Once Matt Damon had left, I stared at Loki for a moment, then mock-scolded, "really, Loki? Matt Damon?"

Loki looked at me imploringly, "come on, have you seen 'The Bourne Identity'?!"

At least we had something to talk about on the subway back to the Sanctum...


	16. Making The Call

After our long day, it felt like a relief to reach the Sanctum. Once we approached the doors, I pulled out my smartphone and texted '#1772'. The doors opened for us and we entered the building.

As per Doctor Strange had said, we found he was still up and was sitting on one of the stairs on the large staircase as we walked into the main area.

"Back already?" Strange asked.

"Yes. We came, we saw, we ate... and made fond memories," I replied with a soft sigh, then looked at Loki. Upon seeing him nod in agreement with a contented smile, I handed a shopping bag to Strange, "then Loki and I bought some items at the local grocery for all of us to have breakfast tomorrow."

"Thank you," Strange said, taking the bag. "You didn't have to - but I'm glad you did. We're so busy here, it's hard to find the time to stock the pantry."

"Our pleasure," I looked at him with amused curiosity. "So, how's the universe?"

"Pools of sorrow, waves of joy... the usual," Strange said offhand. "You both must be very tired."

"We are," Loki said, noticing me quietly yawn. "If you don't mind, we'd like to go up to our rooms now."

"Before you do, have you both decided where you'd like to spend December twenty-first?" Strange inquired.

"Oh," I said, looking at Loki with a knowing smile, "I think we have something in mind, but," I turned back to Strange, "can we get back to you on that? We just need to iron out a few things..."

"Do you need any assistance?" Strange asked. "I do have the means to make things less complex."

"Thank you for the offer," Loki replied his voice impassive, "but we'll be fine."

"However," I interjected, as some thoughts came to mind, "we may have need of you later."

Loki gave me a slightly hurt look, but at the moment I chose to ignore it.

"Just let me know," Doctor Strange said, as his hands went into conjuring mode.

"Wha- what... are you doing?" I asked Strange, as the conjuring hands were directed toward us.

After all this, he wasn't going to hurt Loki, was he?

Instinctively I took a step to stand in front of my friend.

"Well, you could walk up the staircase to where you need to go," Strange began to explain. "However, the Sanctum is a very big place. I wouldn't want you to get lost. So, it's best I again send you both to your rooms... and then I can get back to my work. See you both in the morning."

"Ah, understood," I said, then with a shrug, added, "then... goodnight."

And just like that, I was back in the bedroom I had stayed in last night. Once again, Loki wasn't with me, but if I was here, it made sense to surmise he had to be next door.

I then heard a knock on the connecting door. Turning toward it, it took me a second to realize that the door had been fixed.

"Come in!" I said, knowing exactly who it was.

To my surprise, this time the door opened just fine, and Loki entered the room. He took a few steps in, then stood where he was. I could see his expression wasn't a happy one.

"Why did you tell that sorcerer we needed his help?" Loki asked, sounding vexed. "We're fine doing this ourselves."

"Loki," I replied softly, giving him a sympathetic smile, "don't misinterpret my words. Of course, we are going to do this together, just you and I." Then I took his hand and led us to the bed where we both sat. "My reasons for saying that to him is because there is nothing wrong with having, well, for lack of a better term, some backup. Doctor Strange could become a valuable asset to us."

Loki thought for a moment, the displeased look on his face began to ease, "as far as explanations go, it's not terrible."

"Well, you don't call me your 'Clever Girl' for nothing," I smiled at him.

"I'm... just uncomfortable with the idea," Loki said, looking at me with concern.

"I can understand that considering what he did to you," I admitted. "But so far, he's been nothing but gracious to us." I touched his arm, "maybe he's beginning to see the good person that you really are."

Loki looked at me with affection, his hand reaching up to stroke my hair, and whispered, "would you mind... saying that again?" a small smile teased his lips.

"That you're a good person?" I asked with a hint of amusement. "Sure," I slowly slipped my arms around him. "You're a good person."

Loki then put his arms around me, holding me close, "again. Please?"

"Loki... you're a good person," I repeated, now with mirth. "And I'll say it as many times as you need me to."

"And I know you would," Loki said softly, clutching me closer.

We held each other quietly for few minutes, then Loki carefully released the hug a little so we could look at each other.

"Beverlee..." Loki breathed, as he released one of his arms to reach up to cup my cheek, "I wish you would have been able to meet Frigga. She would have adored you as much as I do."

"Now I see where you inherited your good taste," I beamed, then added with a glint in my eye, "hey, would you mind... saying that last bit again?"

We both smiled warmly at each other.

****

I awoke feeling pretty good. Whether it was the brand of the mattress or perhaps some kind of enchantment placed upon it, it felt wonderful to get a full night's rest. Sitting up in bed, I listened carefully to see if I could hear any undue sounds coming from Loki's room. Even though we were pretty sure at this point Doctor Strange wasn't going to attempt any mystical mayhem on my friend, we still kept both of our connecting doors open. Not hearing anything, short of the soft tones of his slumber, I smiled.

I grabbed my smartphone off the nightstand as well as the card Alice had given us at the diner. Giving another glance at the connecting doors, I was glad Loki had been able to fall asleep without the need of my phone to listen to his playlist. If I didn't have to make this call, I would have gladly given it to him. Luckily, It had been a long day for both of us, and I was out like a light a few minutes after my head hit the pillow. I could only surmise Loki must have fallen asleep soon after I did.

Looking at the card, it read:

****  
HAMILTON HOUSE ORPHANAGE  
Ruth Gallagher, Administrator. 

901 Graham Street,   
Brooklyn, NY 11201

N: 212-555-6445 F: 212-555-6446  
Email: rgallagher@hamiltonhouseorphanage.com  
****

Not wanting to disturb Loki, I got out of bed, and made my way into the bathroom. Sitting on the lid of the toilet, I took a deep breath, powered on my smartphone and tapped the numbers on the touchscreen pad to call.

It rang a couple of times...

"Hamilton House Orphanage. Yes? I mean, may I help you?"

"Yes, I would like to please speak with Ruth Gallagher."

"Speaking."

"My name is Beverlee, and I was speaking to Alice at the diner around the corner from where I'm staying. You know Alice?"

"Yes, I know Alice. For years in fact."

"Great! Long story short, some friends and I were in the diner, having breakfast and there was a little boy who was having a tough time of it. My friend proceeded to entertain the little man with some illusions. Alice saw this and suggested that we talk to you as she thought you might be interested in my friend's skills at entertaining children."

"Well, we're really not soliciting for new talent at this time, frankly we can barely afford the free talent we already have."

"My friend Loki and I really think that you would be impressed with his talents and we were hoping, even if you can't use him, that we could at least audition, maybe even for next year."

"Well, let me look at my calendar, and see if I can fit you in..." there was a short pause. "I've got an opening at two o'clock. Can you be there then?"

"Yes."

"Just to clarify, your relationship to Loki is what? Agent?"

"Sure, sort of."

"Perfect. I've got another call, see you later!"

The line then disconnected.

Powering down my phone, the realization of what I had done began to set in, and I felt excited and nervous at the same time. In an attempt to relax, I went back to bed.

Thank goodness for the training at my workplace, or I don't think I would have been able to stay that calm when talking to her. It now seemed butterflies were in my stomach...

Considering how I was feeling, a knock at the main bedroom door made me jump.

I was about to ask who it was, but then I realized it could only be one person. Instead, I said, "come in."

As Doctor Strange entered my room, he noticed our connecting doors were open. He looked at me with a puzzled expression.

"We're in a strange place... pardon the pun," I attempted to explain, shrugging with a sympathetic smile. "We kept the doors open so we could listen out for each other. Make sure we're both all right."

Technically that was the truth.

"Ah," Strange said, his tone impassive, "I just wanted to let you know that breakfast will be ready soon."

"Thank you," I said. "I'll wake Loki and we'll be down as soon as we can."

Strange nodded and turned to go, but I verbally stopped him, "Doctor Strange, could I talk to you for a moment?"

"Of course, what about?"

Gesturing with my hand, I had him sit at the foot of my bed. Briefly, I turned my head to look at my connecting door, then back to Strange.

With a wave of Strange's hand, the door closed quietly.

"So what is it about Loki you wish to discuss?" Strange asked.

"Loki is my friend. As you can tell, he's very dear to me. I need to know... what is it he must do to get off this list of yours?"

"Oh, that won't ever happen." Strange spoke softly, but matter-of-fact.

"What?!"

"Beverlee, I understand you care about him, but you need to remember he is the God of Mischief, an agent of chaos and has proven that he has the capacity to threaten our world."

"But he's no longer a threat!" I cried. "He's chosen the side of benevolence, and has found it to be more fulfilling."

"All the better for Earth" Strange stated. "But Beverlee, despite his name being on the list - you must understand, it does not have to define him."

"How do you mean?"

"Think of it this way. Those who have been deemed criminals by our justice system - it doesn't matter whether they were sent to jail, correctional facility, or not at all. It doesn't matter whether they are innocent or not. If they can learn from their past and if they are willing to seek out a better future... they can change." He looked at me closely, "your friend doesn't seem to be bothered by being on my list, so why should you?"

I thought for a moment, and yet again, Doctor Strange was right.

"Thank you," I said, starting to calm down considerably. "By your example, I do want him to have a fair chance for a better future."

"I promise you," Strange confirmed, "that being on my list will not prevent Loki from seeking change if he so wishes." Strange touched my arm, and with a small smile on his lips added, "with you by his side, I can foresee that he will." He then stood from the bed. "I'll see you downstairs. To make it easier, both of you just touch the main doorknob and you'll be ported there."

"Are you sure? We... wouldn't want to find ourselves falling, for say, thirty minutes or anything," I said with a coy smile.

Doctor Strange smirked, "Oh, he told you about that..."

"Yes," I confirmed. "Look, whatever your reasons were for doing it, please... just don't do it again?"

Doctor Strange gave me a slow nod and in return, I gave him a grateful smile.


	17. Working Breakfast

Once Strange had taken his leave, I got out of bed and wrapped a blanket around myself. Walking over to open the connecting door, I entered Loki's room. Like yesterday, I found him still in slumber and yet again, the expression on his face was so sweet. I really didn't want to wake him. 

However, I was almost bursting at the seams wanting to tell him the good news, and I knew Doctor Strange wouldn't want us to keep him waiting for too long.

Gently stroking his hair, I spoke softly, "Loki, wake up."

His eyes fluttered open, and as soon as they focused, he smiled, "good morning, Beverlee." He grasped my hand and pulled me to sit down on the bed beside him, "by the look on your face, it appears this is going to be another good day."

I looked at him with affection, "indeed."

"Anything sore from yesterday's... horseplay?" he asked quietly, eyeing my legs with concern, then looking up at me.

"I love it when you're... 'jockey-lar'," I smirked, touching his cheek. "I'm a little sore, but it's manageable."

****

After telling Loki I had secured an audition with the organizer of the event, followed by giving each other a high-five, we both proceeded to get refreshed and dressed. When ready, Loki entered my room, and together we touched the doorknob on the main door.

Immediately we were in the kitchen!

"You finally made it," Doctor Strange said, sitting at a round table with another individual who was Asian. "The foods for breakfast are over there on the sideboard. Help yourself, and join us. By the way, this my friend Wong, another Mystic Master."

Loki and I greeted Wong with a nod, then walked over to the area where the sideboard was. There was a bowl of fruit, a tray of scrambled eggs, another with strips of bacon. A few varieties of bread were available in a clear air-tight container with a choice of spreads - and a toaster. There was also a large elegant teapot with matching cups.

As per our conversation in the diner yesterday, Strange wasn't kidding - it all looked and smelled delicious. We choose a little bit of everything to put on our plates. I wanted to also get a cup of tea, but upon seeing how ornate that teapot was, it made me nervous...

"Loki," I whispered, "I'd like some tea, but I'm afraid if I heft that pot, I'm going to drop it and it will break..."

"Allow me," Loki said with a happy-to-help smile, then with a wave of his hand, the pot lifted into the air, and tipped just enough to begin pouring into one of the cups. "Say when," he chuckled.

"Thank you," I grinned, then took my cup.

"Loki," Doctor Strange spoke, "if you don't mind, we could use refills over here too. Would you please?"

The request took Loki by surprise and by the look on his face he was more than conflicted. I was almost certain he thought Strange was attempting to make him feel like he was some trained monkey or tea boy to 'serve the Mystic Masters' - but I had an inkling this was not the case.

Still holding my plate and cup, I took a step closer to Loki and looked up at him with the most encouraging smile I could muster. Keeping my voice low enough for only him to hear - although if the others heard, at least I would hope they would understand, "this isn't subservience. Show them what you can do."

"I don't have to prove anything to them," Loki growled.

"No, you don't," I agreed, shaking my head in assent. "This is about being yourself."

He glanced at Doctor Strange and Wong, then back to me, with a hesitant look in his blue-green eyes.

I answered him with a look of assurance in mine.

Knowing he could trust me, a gleeful smile soon appeared on Loki's face and with a wave of his hand, the teapot carefully gravitated through the air toward Strange and Wong - without spilling a drop! As it reached them, the pot poured with careful precision in each of their cups, then soared back to its place on the sideboard.

"Loki," I chirped, "don't forget to also get yourself a cup."

"Where is my head these days," Loki said with amusement. As we both joined the Mystic Masters at the table, Loki waved his hand, and the teapot filled an empty cup on the sideboard. The teapot returned to its place, and Loki's teacup flew to his area of the table to where he caught it with his hand. He took a sip.

"Good tea," Loki remarked.

"Are you going to make the dishes and cutlery dance next?" Strange deadpanned.

"I would like to see that!" Wong effused.

Strange gave Wong an incredulous look, shook his head, then said, "Loki, I can see you're quite talented. From what I saw in the diner yesterday and what you've done now... How do you do that, I mean your methodology?"

"I... just do it really," Loki replied, taking a bite of scrambled eggs. "I mean, I had to hone my ability, but once I did, I only had to focus on what I wanted to do and then," he waved his hand and his teacup levitated for a moment, "it would happen."

"I see," Strange said sounding impressed. "Here, what we learn comes from ancient texts along with long regimens of training to perfect the skill. A Mystic Master can be very smooth in using their skills, but if they want to add more to their repertoire they still have to take the time to study and practice. Years of it."

"We have a slogan in our main library," Wong said wryly. "There's a book for that."

Well, except for one on how to entertain fussy children, I thought with amusement.

"I like books," Loki said with a smile, looking at me then at Wong. "Would we be able to visit this library?"

Wong looked pointedly at Strange, awaiting an answer to Loki's question. After all, Strange was the Sorcerer Supreme, and the only one to make that decision.

"The books are for those in training and Masters only," Strange said. "However... it is at my discretion that others may be allowed to visit... provided they behave themselves."

Loki shrugged and spoke quietly, "I've... never been kicked out of a library, not even on Asgard." Then he rolled up his sleeve to present his wrist tracker, "but you don't have to worry about my behaviour."

Now Wong and I were both staring pointedly at Strange.

Strange stared hard at Loki for a moment, then turned his gaze to me.

Just like I had done for Loki regarding the Mystic Masters, I now gave Strange the same look of assurance that my friend could be trusted.

"All right," Strange said, almost begrudgingly. "I grant you both permission to visit the main library."

"Thank you," Loki quietly said, bowing his head slightly.

"Yes, thank you," I also said, with a grateful smile.

"I will be there most of the day today, I'd be glad to show you both around later?" Wong offered with a sympathetic smile.

"We'd like that," Loki said, smiling at me, then back at Wong.

"So what do you both have planned today?" Strange asked.

I knew Loki didn't want anyone to know what we were doing, at least right now, and I wasn't about to betray that trust. Looking at my friend with a warm smile, I said, "we discovered a little place on our travels last night that we wanted to investigate. If all goes right," I looked at Strange, "when we return to the Sanctum, we'll know where we're going to be on the twenty-first of December."

"Well, now I'm curious," Strange said. "Care to tell us where?"

"We..." Loki said with a sheepish smile, "don't want to jinx it."

"Suit yourself... speaking of that, Loki," Strange mused, "what is it with your predilection with wearing suits?"

Loki thought for a moment, then a slow smile worked its way across his face and into his eyes. "Because of ZZ Top," Loki replied, looking at Strange, "nineteen eighty-three."

"Good point," Strange conceded.

I knew music was a universal language in some degree, but never had I thought that when I helped Loki create a playlist of his favourite Midgardian tunes, he would speak the 'same language' as Doctor Strange. What I just saw made me smile to myself, and I hoped I would see more moments of connection like this between them.

****

Although Loki and I were very excited to go to this audition, we knew we had to be prepared. We knew it would be like a session of show and tell, and while we had the show part down pat, we realized we had to work on the tell.

Whatever this Ruth Gallagher was going to ask of us we would have to give the right answers. However, there were some truths we knew couldn't be revealed. We decided the best way to deal with this was to do a mock interview.

We still had plenty of time before we had to leave to catch the subway - all we needed was a quiet area to improvise.

After breakfast, before taking their leave, Strange and Wong directed us to a comfortable sitting area by the main staircase.

Sitting on a couch, we attempted to think of any and all questions that we might be asked. Luckily in my job, I was pretty good at asking scripted questions, especially demographics, which helped as a starting point. I also used my smartphone to call up some helpful information online. It seemed most of the questions we ran through we were able to figure out reasonable responses. We hoped it would just be enough to answer what she needed.

Then all of a sudden, another question came to my mind.

"What were your favourite childhood activities?" I posed.

"Do you really think she'll ask that?"

"I don't know, but I suspect she may want to ask us some questions to test our mindsets regarding children. Besides," I replied with a sheepish smile, "I'm also kind of curious..."

"As am I," Loki concurred, "but you already know two of them, Beverlee. Hedge mazes and horseback riding. You?"

"Jungle gyms and swings."

"Staring at clouds and the way they changed shape."

"Playground roundabouts."

"Hide and seek... until I found it was more fun just to leave Thor hiding."

I couldn't help but giggle, then continued, as I could see we were really having fun with this...

"Games to test memory."

"Climbing trees."

"Modeling with clay."

"Painting."

"Crayons and construction paper."

"Story hour."

"Ooh! Story hour," I said in a fervent tone, "that was the best! I miss those times."

"Perhaps we could consider designating some time during our visits to read to each other?"

"I'd like that, Loki," I said with a contented smile. "I'd like that a whole lot."

Loki reached up a placed a hand on my cheek.

"I'll choose the book" Loki whispered softly, "you bring the milk and cookies."

My contented smile became bashful.


	18. Ruth Gallagher

After getting off the subway, it was a few minutes walk to reach the Hamilton House Orphanage. It was easy to spot, as the quaint old-style building took up its own block. The structure, made of brick and stone, looked like a warehouse that had been refurbished.

Loki and I walked up to the front door.

"Here we go," I said, as Loki opened the door, and we entered the building.

We seemed to be within an enclosed foyer. A short distance away there was a wicket, reminiscent of a ticket window, with someone sitting behind the plexiglass. A sign hung above it that read 'ALL VISITORS MUST REPORT HERE.'

Approaching the wicket, we found the person sitting behind it was a middle-aged man, who was sporting a pleasant expression.

"Hello," he greeted. "How can I help you?"

"Hope you can," I said with a smile. "We have an appointment to see Ruth Gallagher. It's under the name Beverlee. She scheduled us for two o'clock."

"Let me see," the man looked at some papers. "Ah, there you are." He grabbed a pen and scribbled something on the sheet. From a drawer we couldn't see, he pulled out two badges with lanyards that said "VISITOR," then pushed them out to us in the small tray at the bottom of the wicket.

"Please put these on. When you are departing for the day, please return them back here." He pointed to a door on our left. "I'll buzz you in now, and let Ruth know you've arrived. Please take a seat in the waiting area. She will see you shortly."

Lanyards now around our necks, and the door buzzing, we said thank you to the man behind the wicket, then opened the door to enter the reception area.

As reception areas went, this wasn't a bad one; the walls were painted in a warm tone of white, the floor was a varathaned walnut-coloured hardwood, and there were plenty of chairs along with little tables that held the customary magazines. There was no reception desk, as the man we met in the foyer seemed to have taken on those duties.

At the moment, we were the only ones sitting in reception.

"I hope she likes what we do," Loki said, looking at me with anticipation. "I haven't auditioned for a long time."

"Well, let's hope it's what she's looking for," I touched his arm, and gave him a smile. "But I suspect you'll blow her away nonetheless. Your skills are top-notch."

"Thank you, Beverlee," he smiled back, his hand patting my hand on his arm.

We had arrived a bit early, and although Loki and I could have continued talking to each other, the magazines on the table near us soon caught our attention. We looked at each other and could see we both wanted to partake in the usual custom of what one does in a waiting area.

I chose an entertainment and TV magazine, while Loki chose one related to fashion. Mine featured an interview with Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, about his time doing USO shows during the 1940s. After reading it, I glanced over and noticed Loki looking at an article that was a photoshoot featuring Tony Stark...

Leaning in close, I declared, "I believe you'd wear that better than him." It made Loki look up from the magazine, and he gave me a small smile. "Are you all right?"

"Yes," he replied, a determined expression on his face. "We really need to get this gig, Beverlee, I need to, I have to..."

"Hey," I said, slipping my arm around him, "this isn't the same situation when I was trying to decide whether I wanted to do a lope. I want this just as much as you do, especially for your sake, but don't forget, you're already doing something special." I looked him in the eyes, "if we don't get this, nothing changes. You are no less the person that you were when we walked into this building. In fact, you're more, because you made the attempt - something not many people would do." I pointed to the magazine, "you don't have to prove yourself to anyone anymore, let alone this guy."

Glistening moisture appeared in Loki's eyes. He grasped my hand, and kissed the back of it, gazing at me with affection, "oh, Bev-"

" - Beverlee."

Loki had been interrupted by someone else saying my name.

Both of us turned toward the voice.

It was a woman dressed in business casual clothes, with dark hair in a bun wearing glasses.

"Hello, there," she said, extending her hand. "I'm Ruth Gallagher. Pleased to meet you both."

****  
Ruth led us to her office and gestured for us to sit down in the two chairs in front of her desk. Sitting down in her own behind it, she pulled out some papers from a drawer, a pen from a cup, then said, "so you're here to audition for our Winter Holiday Party. Well, first let me tell you a little about this place. It's the oldest and one of the few remaining orphanages left in New York. Even as modern times approached, the family who are the founders of Hamilton House still knew the value of such facilities and did not want to close down in order for any of their current or future wards to be transferred only to get lost in the system or fall through the cracks of it. While the family are still a generous supporter, they cannot pay for everything, so we constantly need to seek sponsorship and fundraising to be able to maintain our facilities, and give our wards every opportunity for a better quality of life."

The phone on her desk began to ring.

"Excuse me," she chuckled. "I've been waiting for this call, won't be long." She picked up the phone. "Ruth Gallagher. Ah, so what do have for me? I said I wanted seventy-five, not fifty," she rolled her eyes. "No, I really need seventy-five! Okay, get back to me." Hanging up the phone, she then turned her attention back to us. "Where was I? Umm, right... This Winter Holiday Party we host is a time where we give back to those who have supported us - like suppliers, sponsors, volunteers and forever home parents. For a nominal fee, we offer a family-friendly catered event, a program with a variety of lively entertainment - that's where you'd come in - and of course," a warm smile appeared, "it's all very special to the children. After all, this event is for them." She looked at us closely, "I don't know about you two, but watching a child open a new present and seeing their eyes light up with joy, it's more heart-warming to me than any funny animal video on YouTube." Gallagher sighed. "Sorry to sound like a seminar. So, I know you're Beverlee, and this handsome gentleman sitting beside you is..." she looked down at her paper, "sorry, in my haste I didn't write it down..."

I smiled, turned to my friend and gestured with my hand for him to begin.

"I'm Loki," he replied with a confident smile.

"Loki..? No last name?"

"Just Loki. Like Adele, Moby, Raffi."

"Ah. Beverlee tells me you've got skills in magic and illusions?"

"Yes, I do. I've prepared a little demonstration," Loki said, and turned to look at me. "With Beverlee as my lovely assistant."

"I look forward to that," Gallagher said, grinning at us both. "But before you do, please tell me a little about yourself. What do you do for a living and what got you into magic?"

"I'm... in Special Ops," Loki began. "So I can't tell you much more than that. As for magic," he continued, with a fond smile, "my mother got me a magic set when I turned six... and the rest is history."

"Have you ever performed in public before?"

"Yes. But it's been a while due to my work... the last place I performed was a couple of months ago at a venue where I was stationed with my unit."

"How long have you and Beverlee been together?"

"Not long enough," Loki said softly, looking at me. "And I have a feeling it never will be."

"Oh, Loki," I blushed then turned to Gallagher. "He's quite the charmer, as you can see."

"Indeed," Gallagher said, looking amused. "As you know from this event, obviously the focus is on children. Forgive me for asking, but I'm required to do so. Are you both comfortable around children?"

"No worries and we can appreciate you having to ask that," I replied. "I'm sure you get those who think they can just do their act without having any interaction with kids, but considering what this establishment is..."

"I know, right?" Gallagher said. "You would be surprised how many we find that are self-serving and lie, just so they can use our event to be noticed."

"That's awful," I remarked. "Well let me tell you, Loki and I are comfortable around children. I used to babysit a few of my mother's friend's kids, so I have some experience in the area. And," looking at my friend with a sweet smile, "we've recently had interactions with some children yesterday."

Loki regaled to Gallagher about our experience in the diner with the crying child, where we met Alice, and then when we met Abigail who had been lost in the corn maze.

While Loki had a silver tongue and could have taken this moment to use it during this time, I noticed by the way he was speaking to this administrator, he wasn't doing that at all. He was speaking very naturally, in a casual tone. We knew Gallagher had been around in this industry for a while, and after what she had just said, perhaps Loki knew the best strategy would just be himself? Whether that strategy came from the heart or a place of desperation to get this gig, his motivations were to be applauded.

When he finished, it seemed to have the desired effect. The stories had put a smile on Gallagher's face.

"Loki, from what you've told me, with what you do for a living," Gallagher said, "and knowing that December is quite some time away... How do I know you won't be shipped off with your unit sent to who knows where let alone be back in time for the event?"

Loki gave Gallagher a soulful look. "Trust me, no matter what happens between now and then, I... we... will both be there."

The expression on Ruth's face clearly showed she was not convinced.

"Look," I said, looking at Loki, then turning to Gallagher. "I know we've just met, and you don't know us from a hole in the ground, but, if Loki says he's going to do something... you can bet your reputation on that. We understand how important this event is to you and the establishment, but please know it's important to us too... in ways, you couldn't possibly imagine."

"I can imagine quite a bit," Gallagher said. "Many donate their time and money to this place as a means to deal with their childhood issues."

Loki and I looked at each other, both of us caught off-guard by that statement.

"You're not the only ones," Gallagher confirmed what we were thinking.

"Then... because of that," I attempted to confirm, "you... understand what we've said?"

"Of course I do... because I'm one of them as well," Gallagher replied matter-of-factly. She took a deep breath, "come on, it's time to show me your demonstration." Then with a wry smile said, "if I like what I see, you both have to just fill out some paperwork before you leave."

"Well," I said, "for this to be an effective demonstration, we need the room to be darker. We'll need to pull down the blinds and dim the lights."

"Allow me," Loki said, waving his hand in a specific way.

'Magically,' blinds were pulled down and the light switch was toggled from on to off, leaving the room in an adequate amount of darkness.

"Oh, I like this already!" Gallagher said with anticipation.

Looking at me with a sweet smile, Loki touched my arm, "this is like Room thirty-six all over again. Let's do this!"

His excitement was contagious!

"Let's!"

Standing from our chairs, we moved them back to give us some room. Pulling out my smartphone, both of us got into the proper starting position. Turning up the volume, I started a song from the playlist app, then we gave a fully committed and energetic performance - tripping the light fantastic with illusion.

Once we were done...

"I've never seen ANYTHING like that... ever," Gallagher said, looking astonished. "I hope your magic can also turn the lights back on and raise that blind. I'll need you both to fill out some paperwork and tell you what's involved to be in the variety show."

"Really?" Loki asked his voice calm, but with an air of excitement.

"Really," Gallagher confirmed in a reverent tone.

Loki turned to me, and his hand moved up to cup my cheek, "we did it," he whispered. Even in the slight darkness of the room, I could see the elated expression on his face.

"Yes, we did," I whispered back, with a smile that was equally elated.

"Guys?" Gallagher interjected, pointing to the ceiling. "Umm, lights?"

"Oh, right," Loki said. With a wave of his hand again, but in a slightly different way, the blind went up and the lights toggled back to the on position - even the chairs were brought back to the desk.

As the lights came on, I could see Loki's blue-green eyes were shining so bright. It warmed my heart to see him so happy.

So this is what it feels like, I thought, being in the right place at the right time...

Bloody marvellous.

After filling out the paperwork, the rest didn't take very long. Gallagher explained where our placement would be in the show. We would be last - as in best for last. None of the audience would be expecting such a performance to wrap up the night! At first, we were a little concerned to get that slot, thinking some of the audience may decide to leave early, but she assured us that those who regularly attended these events stuck around because they knew the last act always ended things on a high note.

Talk about no pressure!

She continued to tell us that once they had all the acts they needed, a rehearsal would set up to make sure the show ran exactly for the time allotted, and another one the day of the show - the twenty-first of December. Gallagher would contact us to let us know when that first rehearsal was, but other than that, all we had to do would be to practice and keep her informed if anything about our availability changed.

Handing back our visitor badges, we left the building - still feeling the excitement from getting this gig.

We were well on our way, to get back to the subway station. But after a few minutes, Loki stopped walking and sat on the edge of a long rectangular brick planter that had an arrangement of large green shrubs.

"Loki, are you all right?" I asked.

He took my hand and pulled me to sit beside him, "I'm okay... I... just had to sit down and think about what just happened."

"I understand... I'm still trying to process it," I said, then leaned against him playfully. "But we should know when it comes to us there ain't no competition."

Loki smiled in amusement, "true, you were right that she would be impressed with our routine, but that's not what's bothering me." He looked at me with concern, "Beverlee, she didn't know who I was. When we were on the subway going to the farm, I could sense certain feelings and emotions from those who were staring at us... but with her, I sensed... nothing. It was strange, to say the least, to be treated... fairly... from someone other than you."

"That's a good point," I said, thinking. "I mean, as rare as the percentage would be, there are some who are ignorant of the news or maybe there were some special circumstances? And keep in mind, as I said before, everybody looks like somebody else." I took his hand, "it felt good though, didn't it?"

"Yes," Loki smiled to himself.

"I hope to see more of that for you as time progresses."

"I do as well, but don't you understand... what if her lack of knowledge about me somehow puts her career and even the event in jeopardy?"

"Hey, today you were judged on your own merit without any bias," I replied. "Considering the rarity of that even happening, I consider that a good sign. Think about it, Ruth told us the people who attend these events are pretty seasoned. They know she wouldn't put her audience or the kids in any danger. Those people may initially think you are who you are, but then again, maybe they'll just think you might be a very good impersonator or cosplayer?" Seeing there was still concern on Loki's face, I said, "it's okay. Remember, dealing with twists and turns is our speciality..." I gave his hand a gentle squeeze, "come on, let's get some ice cream to celebrate this moment."

"If you don't mind," Loki said, with a small smile, "could we... go for gelati instead?"

"Is someone trying to be a diva?" I chuckled.

"Trying?" Loki mock-scoffed then winked at me.


	19. The Library

Returning to the Sanctum, we sat down with Doctor Strange to tell him the good news - that we now had a place to be on December twenty-first.

"So, while the Avengers will be strutting their stuff at Stark's Gala," Doctor Strange tried to comprehend, "you both will be working the crowd at a different venue." Strange smiled. "How commendable. But can you tell me why?"

An impish expression appeared on Loki's face, "well to rule them of course and bring them to their knees. Just don't tell Thor."

"What?" Strange was aghast and turned to me for clarification.

"Loki," I mock-chided, quite amused at my friend's choice of words, then addressed the Mystic Master, "he's just messing with you. As a Drama Major, he's just making a play on words..."

"Those are some pretty strong words to use, considering..." Strange said, in a tone that was not impressed.

"But that's what makes them so amusing," Loki explained. "Strange, you needn't be concerned about me having a 'relapse.'" He looked at me and smiled, "Beverlee reminded me that a captive audience is not as much fun as a captivated one."

"Well that much is certain," Strange nodded. "But you still haven't answered my question. Why?"

Sobering, Loki turned to face me and gestured with his eyes for me to tell Doctor Strange.

Looking at him, I was puzzled.

"I can't tell him, I'll sound arrogant."

"No, you won't," I countered.

"Many times I have attempted to voice my opinion, and every time I do, I stand corrected."

"But this time is different, what you have to say is valid."

"Please, Beverlee," he implored, looking into my eyes, "for this, I feel my silver tongue is trumped by your skills in public relations."

Touching his arm and giving him a sympathetic smile, I said, "okay, if you feel that strongly about it."

Facing Doctor Strange, I began to explain on behalf of my friend.

"Why? Well, above it all, Loki and I share some unresolved issues when it comes to our youth, and we wanted to channel those feelings into something to help others who may be less fortunate. Consider it a way to get in touch with our inner child. Also... Loki has been doing very well during assignments while in the Initiative. He has quite the skill set, but rarely does he get a chance to use his skills for leisure. He's worked so hard, and whether doing this event is a one-shot or could lead to something more, we believe it would be in his best interest to have this opportunity."

"As far as answers go, I don't find that arrogant at all," Strange said, looking at my friend. "Do you truly feel that way, Loki?"

"Yes," Loki replied, his eyes meeting Strange's. "I want to do this."

"And I want him to do this," I seconded.

"Then I don't see the harm in you both participating... in this."

Loki and I looked at each other - with grins now on our faces - then back at Doctor Strange.

"Thank you," we said almost simultaneously.

"If you need any assistance..." Strange offered.

"Well," Loki said thinking, "we would like to visit that main library..."

"Right," Strange said, "I actually I have to go there myself, you can follow me."

Doctor Strange stood up, and headed for the staircase, expecting us to follow.

Before we did though, I quickly put my arms around Loki, giving him a big hug.

He kissed the top of my head.

We then got up to follow the Mystic Master...

****

Doctor Strange led us to a particular door and explained that once we entered, we would no longer be in New York. The door opened to a secret location in Kathmandu they called Kamar-Taj, an isolated community that is home to many sorcerers and mystics. He made us promise to be silent about it to others.

This, of course, would be no problem, as the likelihood of anyone asking us about it would be slim to none. But even so, Strange glanced just a little longer at Loki. My friend, trying hard not to be disrespectful, acknowledged with a firm nod. When Strange's back was turned to open the door, Loki looked at me and rolled his eyes to which I gave him a sympathetic smile then took his hand. In truth, for those who knew of him, Loki's reputation would be something hard to live down, but I'm glad I could be that someone to let him know I understood, and would never be swayed by it.

As we entered through the door, I felt an odd sensation, like we were going through some penetrable force field. Somehow I found myself not at all concerned, considering what Strange had told us - there had to be some magic to put these gateways together. I smiled to myself, as it seemed being friends Loki had initially opened my mind to such possibilities, and what I was seeing now just was just icing on the cake.

It was hard to find the right words to describe the library, each one that came to my mind seemed to fall flat - and it was nothing like any library I had before visited. I was no architect, but the rustic design and style of the chamber were stunning. The floors, the stylish pillars, and the vaulted ceiling that incorporated decorative glass squares for skylights all seemed to have been made from dark hardwoods.

Only after taking this all in was when I began to notice the shelves of books and a special area of what looked like custom-made metal racks that held large ornate volumes with chains.

Coming from around a bookshelf, Wong appeared and greeted us, "I'm so glad you could make it," he said, giving a small smile. "Let me give you a tour of the place."

"I'll leave you in Wong's care," Strange said to us. "He knows these books like the back of his hand, so if there's something you're looking for, just ask." Strange walked toward to the bookshelves, disappearing from our sight as he turned a corner.

"Unfortunately, you won't be able to read these books, because of the various languages in which they are written," Wong said. "But I can help with giving a synopsis."

"Well, I don't know about that," Loki said quietly. "On Asgard we were schooled in many languages, not just English. May I... have permission to look inside a book or two?"

"Of course," Wong said, waving us over to follow him. "Is there a particular area of interest I can help you find?"

"Well..." Loki began to ponder, "we have an event to attend, where we both will be performing in front of families. If there was something else we could add to the act..."

Wong looked at Loki with reverence, "I have a book for that. Actually a few."

Choosing a number of books from various shelves, Wong led us to one of the reading tables. Once we all sat down, he proceeded to tell us about how these books could make our routine even better. Opening up one of the books to a certain page, Wong pushed it over to Loki.

Loki looked at the page presented, then smiled to himself, "I know this book... My mother introduced me to these spells. Of course, it was written in Asgardian... Wong, thank you! Adding some of these could really enhance our act."

"You can read Vedic Sanskrit?" Wong asked, surprised.

"Yes I can," Loki answered, as he continued to read with keen interest.

I was relieved to find that my lack of knowing Vedic Sanskrit didn't automatically leave me out of the conversation. Wong and Loki would tell me what spells were mentioned in a chapter then we'd discuss if they were good enough to include in our routine. If we weren't sure, Wong would do a bit of a demonstration for us to get a better idea, then Loki would attempt to recreate it to make it his own.

We must have been there for a couple of hours, going through each of the books, and talking about what directions we could take. Wong even opened up - what he called - a mirror dimension for us so we could rehearse our act in various ways without disturbing any students or Masters who entered the library.

"I believe you're both ready," Wong said with a small smile. "I wouldn't add anything else."

"Thank you, Wong," I said with elation. "We're grateful for all your help."

"If there's something we can do to thank you," Loki offered, "just ask."

"Maybe... put in a good word for me, if I audition next year?"

"You got it," Loki replied with a smile of delight. "Anything for the... Librarian Supreme."

A small smile of amusement appeared on Wong's face.

Suddenly, my smartphone vibrated in my pocket. I was amazed to get reception considering the remote location, but then Doctor Strange had cast some kind of spell on it...

Pulling my phone out, I looked at the notification. It was a text from Thor:

"Loki needs to return to the facility, Initiative has a new assignment."

I closed my eyes briefly and took a deep breath.

Why did this have to happen now?!

But I couldn't complain. It had been a really good couple of days for Loki and myself, and we had made more fond memories.

However, despite that, it was always bittersweet when it was time for him to go.

"What's wrong?" Loki asked, seeing the unhappy expression on my face.

I showed him the text.

"Hey," Loki led me back to the reading table and we sat down. "It's okay, this isn't any different from the other times." He took my hand and kissed the back of it. "I've never had so much fun packed into a short amount of time, but that's what you do, my Clever Girl," he stroked my hair and smiled. "You always make it special... for me... for us."

Pulling Loki into my arms, we hugged each other warmly. We then stood from the table and walked back over to the 'Librarian Supreme.'

"Wong," Loki said, "I have to go back to the SHIELD facility, so we must return to the New York Sanctum." My friend then turned to me, "do you wish to remain at the Sanctum whilst I'm away?"

"It wouldn't be the same without you. I'm going to cancel the rest of my vacation and go back to work. I'll be able to keep my mind occupied while I know you're... out there somewhere."

"Moody Blues, nineteen eighty-eight."

We all turned our heads - it was Doctor Strange.

"Come on, I'll get you back where you both need to be," Strange said, then looked at me. "Beverlee, if you need any assistance from us, don't hesitate to use your phone."

"I shall," I said, starting to feel vexed from all this happening so quickly. "Thank you for everything."

"Yes," Loki said, "thank you for your hospitality."

"While I appreciate my solitude," Strange said, "I must say... I didn't mind you both disturbing it while you were here."

We both smiled at Strange, then made our way to the door that would take us back to the New York Sanctum. As Strange and Loki exited, I saw that Wong had walked with us and was just behind me.

Turning around, I looked at Wong. Lifting my arms I asked, "may I?"

Wong smiled, "you may."

Giving Wong a big hug, I then exited from Kamar-Taj.


	20. Auditions, Associations & Assignments

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, I make the suggestion to read two side stories (which I wrote before I had finished this book) for more understanding. However the two I've listed are only available on Wattpad at the moment. I do plan on adding them in the near future. While they are parts that relate to the story (and fill in some blanks), if you're not on Wattpad / unable to read them, it shouldn't take away from your enjoyment of how far you've come in this book, and you can continue to read on... 
> 
> And thank you for your readership thus far! :)  
> ****

Returning to Winnipeg, my thoughts were foremost on my friend. But, after a few days of being back at work, I was able to make the transition into real life again. I filled up most of my time with the usual: exercise, watching TV, doing mundane chores like laundry and straightening up the domicile, running errands, along with going online to check out my social media pages.

I still would think about Loki, especially when I took time out of each day to practice my part in our routine for the Hamilton House Orphanage's upcoming event, but eventually, the thoughts weren't as excessive or intense.

In fact, practicing the routine soon became my favourite part of the day.

I knew there was very little on Midgard that could harm Loki. Ever since he joined the Initiative, he always returned from each assignment safe and sound - I really had nothing to fear in that regard. However, sometimes my imagination would get the better of me, and I would worry that perhaps this might be the day that someone or something had the capacity to do so. It also wouldn't help when I looked at the couch in my living room that was a pull-out bed - the place where he would sleep when he stayed the night. I dreaded the very thought if something ever happened to prevent him from returning to my home... and to me.

However, during those rare moments, I would find some solace when I sat or lay upon that couch as if he was here with me and saying everything was going to be all right.

****

A week had gone by when I got a text from Ruth Gallagher from the Hamilton House Orphanage. She let me know that they now had all their talent in place and the first rehearsal was scheduled for next week.

Although Loki had not yet returned from his assignment, I had no choice but to text back and tell her we would be there. I was optimistic that Loki would return with plenty of time before the rehearsal.

However, more days passed and I got another text, just as a reminder about the rehearsal - with still with no word that Loki and the Initiative had returned.

But this wasn't my first rodeo when it came to Loki and his assignments. I needn't have worried, as it was the evening before the day of the rehearsal that I got a text from Doctor Tom Lowenstein, informing me they were back from the assignment - safe and sound.

However, we also needed to keep our activities for the orphanage a secret. We didn't want Thor finding out, for fear he wouldn't approve or worse, spill the beans to his fellow Avengers. We enlisted the help of Doctor Strange via my smartphone to get us both to the rehearsal.

****

Deposited at the front of the building we walked through the front door. The same cheery man we had met previously, sitting behind the wicket in the foyer, soon informed us had to enter from a different direction. We had to go to the right side of the building, which would bring us to doors that lead into the auditorium - the location to where the Winter Party would be held.

Thanking him, we made our way over to that side of the building. There was a woman by the doors with a clipboard, and as we approached, she asked us who we were.

"Beverlee and Loki."

Looking at the list that was on her clipboard, she made a check with her pen, handed me a piece of paper, then directed us into the building. We were to go through a set of doors that lead to another kind of foyer to yet another set of doors - which were propped open with a chair. There was a sign on the door, "Rehearsal for Winter Party."

Entering the auditorium, we could see it was quite a large space, roughly the size of a high school gymnasium. There were a number of chairs set up with about a dozen people sitting in some of them, and a platform stage in front. Nearby from the seating area was a table with bottled water and cans of soda.

There was a woman there to greet us, who was also holding a clipboard, but her's had a stopwatch hanging from it. Confirming who we were, she told us to take a seat.

Finding two open chairs, we sat down, then both of us looked at the piece of paper I had been handed: 

********  
Welcome to rehearsal day! 

Please take note of your number on the back of this sheet, you will be called up in that order. Please be patient. We know what you will be performing for our crowd is already worthy for our event. 

This time is mainly for the technical side, for example: working out the distances between everything on stage, what the lights will be like, where your props are and see how much time everyone needs for their act so we don't run overtime. However as things go, for the night of the show, anything can happen, so asides from what you have prepared, also be ready to have a shortened or lengthened version of your act. 

And... while you're at it - why not get to know your fellow entertainers as you're waiting? You'll get to know who is before and follows your act... and perhaps discover you have something in common with them! 

Thank you for being a part of our event for the children - a very special cause, always.  
********

As we suspected, we were last on the list. We were going to be here some time but didn't mind. As per the paper, it was a good way to put names to faces and at least get some familiarity with these people who were involved.

We watched a juggler, a children's singer, a comedic 'mad-scientist', a wrangler with trained dogs... Seems Ruth Gallagher was very selective of what she wanted as talent, and she definitely chose some prime entertainers. Each person from the list who completed their act, we didn't just clap to be polite, it was because they were GOOD.

We hoped we also measured up in the eyes of the others.

Every one of the talent we saw that got up on stage, they did a sort of a walkthrough of their act. The woman with the clipboard and stopwatch would assist them from the floor, making suggestions of where they should be on the stage during certain moments of their performance.

I surmised this woman was a choreographer or something equivalent - and thought it was a wonderful idea to have them here for this. Not only were we giving our time and effort to a good cause, but Gallagher was also actually giving something back to us, something we could use for the future.

We noticed some of the acts, after completing their routines and assessment, didn't leave the auditorium. I suspected they were the seasoned ones, those that may have been part of this show for more than a few years and curious to see what Gallagher had chosen for new talent.

I was happy to know we'd have some audience to watch us, but it also made me a bit nervous. We were able to briefly chit-chat with a few, some before and some after they had their turn on the stage. Each of them seemed pretty affable and just made this experience more fun and exciting. My nervousness began to alleviate. There was a feeling of camaraderie, and it made me feel like we were a bunch of recording artists all getting together in a studio to record a charity single.

Finally, it was our turn...

We got up on stage and did our thing, going through our routine slowly while getting some direction from the woman, whom we learned her name was Kelly.

When I was in high school, I had been given the opportunities to do a few plays. I was never the lead, just portrayed extras and the occasional supporting role, but still, being on that stage, it was a real thrill. And I was feeling that way again - but with an older and more experienced mindset. It was just like, well, when Loki and I went horseback riding...

Loki employed his magical gifts and cast some of the illusions we were using for our routine. Taking a brief glance at our audience, I could see we had stunned them into silence... it was only after we had completed our session, we heard clapping.

Loki and I looked at each other, and my friend smiled at me proudly. There was only one thing to do - he took my hand, and we both took a bow.

"Glad you both are on last," Kelly said to us with a grin. "You'd be a tough act to follow!"

With the rehearsal wrapped, Loki and I went over to the beverage table to grab a bottled water. Others followed us to do the same. To our surprise, we were flattered when each of them, as they picked up a beverage, complimented us on our routine.

One of them even struck up a conversation with us.

"You both looked great up there," the comedic 'mad-scientist' said to us. "I don't know how Ruth found you, but you're both a breath of fresh air."

From the paper, we learned his name was Lewis Barry - he would be the second last act, just before we took the stage.

After the three of us introduced ourselves, I said with a smile, "thank you, that means a lot to us." I took Loki's hand, and continued, "strangely enough, I know it sounds cliche, but we of all places, were discovered in a diner."

"Ah," Barry said with a knowing look. "Alice, right?"

"Yes," Loki confirmed, with pleasant surprise. "You know Alice?"

"Alice discovered me too," Barry said, "but not originally as an entertainer..." He smiled proudly, "she's my wife. I was already semi-established in the children's entertainment industry. When Ruth started these events, I was more than happy to lend my time."

"I see," Loki said. "Well you're very good, you have such a unique style of delivering jokes."

"And I could SO relate to your humour," I said. "That whole bit about Lego was just hilarious."

"Thank you," Barry said. "I try to keep things fresh, and with certain things happening in this world, even locally, it really sometimes just writes itself."

Loki and I both chuckled.

"I couldn't agree more!" I said.

"Well, it's been great talking to you," Loki said, giving my hand a squeeze, "but Beverlee and I have another commitment. We look forward to seeing you at the show."

"Likewise," Barry said, pulling out something from a pocket, "but I wouldn't mind seeing you both again before that," and handed Loki a card. "It's my contact number, maybe the four of us can do lunch."

Both of us were taken aback by this but in a good way. We both looked at each other and smiled.

"Thank you," Loki said, looking at the card for a moment, then back at Barry. "We'd like that."

Shaking hands with Barry, and the few others that we chatted with earlier, we then took our leave from the building.

As we got outside, I asked, "hey, did any of those people... I mean did you sense anything..?"

"Nothing," Loki replied. "All I felt was acceptance. Perhaps what you suggested was correct?"

"Hope so," I replied. "Even I had at least expected some kind of opposition or disapproval from one or more of them. Not just toward you, but for me as well. But they were all... so friendly."

"It appears things are looking up for us," Loki smiled. "I see no reason to question our good fortune."

"Agreed," I smiled back. "Loki, where are we going - what is this other 'commitment' you mentioned?"

"The one we have to each other," Loki stated. "I missed you, my clever girl... and I need some 'we time' with you."

Looking up at him with affection, I took his hand.

"Then 'we time' it is," I said. "Where should we go?"

Loki thought for a moment, then said, "how about our second favourite place?"

"Sounds great."

****

[Please read "The Loki Chronicles: Treasured Moments" - Moment 12: "Mischief Night," then return back to this story.]

****

November was now upon us, less than two months away from the event. But by no fault of our own, the days seemed to go by rather quickly.

The times that Loki and I could get together, we made every effort to live in the moment. This meant continuing to practice our routine, still finding ways to give it polish and to make it feel more natural.

It also was a time for us to take up on Lewis Barry's invitation to meet with Alice and him. We scheduled a day to meet for lunch and found them to be very nice people. The conversations we had were more than pleasant - and considering who Barry was, along with Loki's quirky personality, there were plenty of laughs.

We seemed to get on so well, we were invited over to their place for American Thanksgiving. Loki and I were very thankful to have met these people, and hoped they would continue to be our friends as time progressed.

Speaking of thankful, Doctor Strange continued to be very helpful in keeping our secret about our endeavours. During Thanksgiving, the Barrys had given us some leftovers to take with us. We were only too happy to pay the thankfulness forward and give them to Doctor Strange and Wong.

I also found it quite thoughtful - considering who they were - the Mystic Masters made sure to return the containers back to us, not only clean but also had one of them filled with burfi, some for us to take for ourselves and the rest to give to the Barrys.

As Loki had said, things were looking up for us, and they were definitely were on the up and up... 

Then, during the last week of November, while we both were having supper at my domicile, Loki informed me that he would be taking his leave and going on another assignment with the Initiative the next day.

We both knew the drill, but it never got any easier. We spent our remaining time in the living room, sitting on the couch talking, then holding each other quietly.

I was reminded of a quote: True friends don't say good-bye, they just take extended leaves of absences from each other.

And I was not afraid to let my heart grow fonder.

****

[Please read "12 Plot Points Of Christmas: A Writer's Challenge" then return back to this story.]

****


	21. A Snag In The Plan

While at work, still remembering the fantastic time I had at The Plaza, with Loki, Thor and the members of the Initiative, I got a text from Thor.

Yet again, the Initiative was called in for another assignment.

Shrugging my shoulders, I texted him back:

"Understood. Be safe."

Concerned that they had been called in as it was getting closer to the official holidays, I was aware crime and mayhem never took a break. In fact, it just got worse during these times...

I offered a silent prayer to anyone who may have been listening for my dear friend and the Initiative to be successful, and come home safe.

Then I got back to work.

****

Just like October, I continued to immerse myself in mundane reality, short of practicing my part for the Winter Party. I made every attempt to stave off those usual worrisome thoughts and prayed that my mischievous friend would not show up earlier than a day before the event. But as before, days were passing quickly...

Then, all of a sudden, I began to have anxiety attacks - but had no idea why. While I understood anything could be a trigger, I hadn't suffered from many attacks after my recovery from being shot in that mall in New York. One night I was feeling particularly overwhelmed and I ended up sleeping on the couch in the living room for comfort.

It was then, the day after when I came home after work, which was a Thor's Day - I mean Thursday - when I got a text from Thor:

"Initiative has returned. Loki is in the Med Centre, but soon will be discharged to his quarters. He's injured - not in any serious danger, but he needs you."

I texted back:

"Then come get me. Open the portal now."

****

Emerging through the portal into the auxiliary SHIELD facility, Thor was waiting for me. I gave him a big hug then asked the obvious question, "what happened?"

"I'll tell you on the way. As you know, I can't tell you much, but you can talk to Doctor Lowenstein after so he can clarify the details."

"I intend to," I promised.

What he could tell me was that it took place in an electronics assembly plant. Once the team got what they came for to complete the mission, something went wrong, and they had to punch their way out of it.

During the battle, and it was quite the mishap, Loki fell into a large bin of miscellaneous electronic parts. Seconds after, he started to cry out in pain. At first, they all thought it was a joke, but knew better, when, between his cries of anguish, he told them he wasn't able to physically climb out of the bin. Thor had to retrieve him.

They took some scans of the contents of the bin for Doctor Lowenstein to study. During their trip back to the facility, a brief assessment revealed there were some raised bumps on Loki's back, with a few near his spine, which looked like small nodules.

"Wait," I said, starting to worry, "are you telling me Loki can't walk?"

"Oh, he can walk," Thor assured. "Whatever happened in that bin only temporary paralyzed him. However, because of those things on his back, some movements cause him discomfort."

"Beverlee?" A familiar voice spoke from an adjoining corridor.

Turning around, there stood Sasha and Minerva. Two people who were part of the Initiative, but also friends who had looked after me when I was recovering from my injuries from that mall incident. We embraced one another warmly.

"I didn't expect to see you both, but I'm glad of it," I said between hugs. "Thor was just telling me about what happened to Loki."

"It's just terrible what happened. I take it you're heading to Loki's quarters?" Minerva asked.

I nodded.

"We're heading in that direction ourselves," Sasha said. "We'll walk with you."

We continued down the corridor, to an area I had never been before, the wing where the initiative had their quarters.

Sasha and Minerva soon pointed me toward a door.

"Here we are," Minerva said. "Please give Loki our regards."

"I will," I nodded, then turned to Thor. "Thank you for giving me the heads up on this."

Thor simply nodded in acknowledgement.

"He's going to be so happy to see you, Beverlee," Sasha said with an encouraging smile. "Tell him if he needs anything, just let us know."

"And that also includes you," Minerva said with a wry grin. "If you plan on staying the night, we'll make sure an overnight kit is brought to you."

"I will," I said, now giving them a soft smile. Their support always made me feel better. "Thanks again."

Once Thor, Minerva and Sasha took their leave, I approached the door.

Never before had I been inside Loki's quarters, and to say I was curious would be an understatement.

Do I knock or would he know I was here?

I decided to just stand wait outside the door.

Although I couldn't be sure if it had taken a few seconds longer then usual, my hunch still paid off - the door opened for me, and I went inside.

****

My eyes swiftly scanned the room to find him, he had to be in his bedroom.

But where was it?

Then, I heard him say my name. 

Turning toward the sound of his voice, there he was - sitting up in his bed, with a small smile on his face.

Quickly I made my way over to him, and without hesitation climbed up on the bed. We both crawled toward each other, then Loki and I rose on our knees. He put his arms around me.

"I'm so glad you're here," Loki whispered. "But I don't know what all the fuss is about. I got injured, but I'm fine."

Being careful, I lightly wrapped my arms around him as I didn't know where his injuries were located.

As I held him, I could feel his body trembling.

"Loki, it's okay. You don't have to put on a brave face for me."

In response, he lowered his head and buried his face against my shoulder.

"I'm sorry, so sorry, please don't be cross with me," Loki quavered. "I didn't mean to let you and the others down."

"Hey, take it easy, you haven't let anyone down, least of all me," I assured. "What are you talking about?"

"I... I got hurt, I didn't mean to, it was an accident..."

"Loki," I said softly, "of course it was an accident, we know sometimes during your assignments these things happen. But I don't understand, why on earth would you think I'm mad at you?" I released the hug a little so we could look at each other.

Loki always had a pale complexion, but at this moment he looked even more so. Asides from the distress and anxiety that clearly showed on his face, he also looked very tired.

"The... the show..." he whispered nervously. "I... might not be able to perform. We worked so hard..."

"Oh, Loki," I soothed, with a sympathetic smile, now understanding his dismay. "You have such a good heart. I know we both worked hard on this routine, but if we're unable to perform, so be it." I released one of my arms, and gently cupped his cheek, "I care more about you than any show. As I said before, you're already doing something special by being a member of the Initiative."

"But the kids," Loki said, his voice now sounding less stressed. "I... we... can't let them down. And... we promised Ruth we would be there no matter what..."

He was right. I had forgotten how hard we made our case to her to be in this shindig.

"Well, we still have time," I said. "And I plan on seeing Lowenstein..."

I trailed off as I saw my friend's face go blank for a second or two, then it became a look of apprehension.

"Beverlee," Loki whispered, "whatever happens... please, don't leave."

The door chime to his quarters sounded. With a wave of his hand, Loki opened the door.

Speak of the devil, it was Dr. Tom Lowenstein himself, holding a medical bag.


	22. Hold On

Loki's embrace intensified around me, just like when we first arrived at the Sanctum. I wasn't sure what was going on here, as I knew Lowenstein had always been kind to my friend, so this behaviour was odd, to say the least.

"Beverlee," Lowenstein said with a smile, "it's good to see you again."

"Likewise," I responded, returning his smile. "What... another housecall?"

"Yes," Lowenstein replied. "It would be far too taxing for Loki to be brought to the Med Centre. So we do the treatments in his quarters."

"Treatments?" I asked. "What kind of treatments?"

"Loki has some kind of micro-tech that entered his body when he fell and landed in that bin," Lowenstein explained, "we don't know much about this tech, but initially when I examined Loki, the penetration occurred in his lower back. Whatever this is, it has moved to places in his upper torso, CAT scans of his body confirm that this tech is growing or multiplying. When they entered Loki, they seem to have migrated to specific areas to attach themselves, but only within the area of his upper back. So far, they've remained small in numbers, and our hypothesis is that they will continue to do so. We're still working on a strategy to remove them, but with Loki's physiology, this might take some time."

"If it's tech, can't you... short them out somehow?" I asked.

I saw Loki cringe.

"We..." Lowenstein said carefully, "attempted something like that earlier. It wasn't effective, and it wasn't pleasant for Loki either."

"Ah," I acknowledged. "So what is it you're doing now?"

"Cold temperatures can have a negative effect on technology. We suspect that Loki's lower body temperature may be an asset. We also suspect that this tech has the ability to sense when it comes into contact with any form of organic tissue."

I now noticed Loki's eyes were downcast, and he looked very uncomfortable. As Lowenstein continued to explain, I reached up and caressed Loki's cheek, which got him to look up at me. I gave him an encouraging smile, in an attempt to alleviate his unease.

"You see," Lowenstein said, placing his medical bag on the bed, opening it and taking out an unusual looking gadget that looked remotely like an airbrush, along with a few small vials, "we call it fighting fire with fire, well, more like ice against ice. With this device, I'll be spraying a solution on the areas that's not quite unlike dry ice."

"Wait a minute, dry ice is damaging to the skin," I said with concern.

"Our skin, yes," Lowenstein concurred. "But Loki has different physiology and can handle it. He's already had a few treatments, and the results have been satisfactory. We believe it's only a matter of time before we completely neutralize the tech." He inserted the vials into the device, and pressed a few buttons, activating it. "Beverlee, to make it easier, perhaps you can assist me while I do this."

"What must I do?" I wasn't liking this at all, but despite everything, I trusted this doctor. Knowing that he would never harm Loki outright, if this is what had to be done - so be it.

"Loki isn't too keen on these treatments, so I need you to keep him calm and very still as I spray."

Nodding, I then turned to Loki and shrugged, "come on, the sooner we start..."

Loki nodded, looking resigned.

My friend was wearing a customized type of patient clothing, similar to the kind I had seen him wear during our first time meeting at this facility. It had several flaps with Velcro enclosures in specific places, which gave better access for treatments and made examinations easier as well as maintaining one's dignity. Lowenstein opened a large flap that only exposed Loki's back, and I could see there was a gauze dressing taped to the affected area. Removing the dressing with care, it revealed the raised bumps that Thor had mentioned - where each of the micro-tech was located.

Lowenstein put the dressing in a special compartment in his bag then directed me on how to hold Loki for his treatment. The embrace was almost similar to the one in which he had found us but with my arms lower on his back.

The doctor began to slowly spray the areas...

Loki quietly whimpered on my shoulder, holding me very tight.

"I know it hurts," I whispered in his ear, "but I've got you and I'm not letting go."

Lowenstein didn't do just one, but a few passes on the affected areas. It didn't take very long, but I can only imagine for my friend it must have felt like an eternity.

When Lowenstein completed the treatment, he shut off the gadget, then gently placed a hand on Loki's shoulder, "we're done for now."

"Th-thank you, doctor," Loki mumbled, his head still on my shoulder.

Putting the gadget away in his bag, Lowenstein pulled out a fresh package of gauze dressing. Carefully he applied the dressing, then reaffixed the flaps on Loki's patient clothing.

"I'll show myself out, shall I?" Lowenstein said quietly, with a regretful look on his face.

"Hey," I called out to him, before he left, making him turn around. "Thank you." I gave him a sympathetic smile.

He nodded with a small smile of his own, then turned and exited.

Still holding Loki in my arms, his head still on my shoulder, I stroked his hair, "it's okay now, it's over."

"No, no it's not," Loki mumbled.

"How do you mean?" I asked, only to realize what he may have meant after I spoke. "Wait... are you still in pain?"

"Yes," Loki replied. "It's a side-effect from the treatments."

"Why didn't you tell Lowenstein?"

"Because he said the method was working."

"That doesn't mean he couldn't have..." I began to say but realized our Midgardian medicine was severely lacking when it came to Frost Giants. The empathy I felt for Loki right now made me want to cry. "Come on, let's see what we can do to make you comfortable."

Luckily Loki's bed had the luxury of several fluffy but firm pillows. Releasing the hug, and telling my friend to stay put for a moment, I put a couple of pillows by the headboard so I could lean back, and then a couple of pillows on my lap. Then I carefully got Loki to lay prone over those pillows on my lap to support his head and upper body, taking the pressure off of his back. As he wriggled his body a bit to get comfortable, he moaned a little as some of the movements exacerbated his discomfort.

After I had my ordeal in the mall, this was one of the ways my friend helped me relax when we stayed at The Plaza Hotel. I knew I couldn't take away his pain, but if I could make his situation feel a bit more pleasant, giving him some kind of diversion...

Then an idea struck me. I recalled the first time I had given Loki a back massage. There was something he told me about the experience...

"Loki," I said quietly, "will you allow me to test a theory?"

Loki grunted a response to the affirmative.

Very slowly and gently, trying not to jostle my friend resting on my lap, I opened one corner flap from the back panel of Loki's patient clothes. Then ever so slowly, I slipped my hand inside and rested it on an area of his back that was nowhere near the micro-tech.

"Loki, I'm not sure if this will work, but remember when I gave you that back massage? You told me I wielded powerful magic in my hands. Not only did it soothe you physically, but also mentally in some capacity. Perhaps one was part and parcel of the other, but I'd like to believe you have some empathic ability to sense or feel..."

"I do," he said quietly. "Give me a moment." A soft sigh soon escaped his lips, "it does relieve the discomfort a little."

"I'm glad to hear that. I hope it will be enough to allow you to get some needed sleep."

"But Beverlee," Loki whispered, "what about the event?"

"I haven't given up hope and neither should you. We'll figure this out. Twists and turns..."

"Are our speciality," Loki finished for me, his voice beginning to sound drowsy. "Beverlee?"

"Yes, Loki?"

"Please... don't tell Thor about... my treatments."

"Of course I won't," I reassured. "Now settle down, and get some rest."

After a few minutes, I saw Loki close his eyes, and noticed his body relaxed a bit more. He soon was making the familiar sounds of being in slumber.

As Loki slept, I pondered on our situation regarding the show. He was in no condition to perform while those micro-tech things were still in him, and he'd be in too much pain to do what was required for the routine. I felt quite lost...

Lost.

Wait.

I found our answer.

Smiling to myself, I looked with admiration at my dear slumbering friend. Twist and turns were definitely our speciality.


	23. All This And Chocolate Pudding...

Although Loki was sleeping soundly on my lap, I knew he couldn't stay in this position. Bodies, including his, I had learned, naturally change positions several times during long-term slumber.

And I was actually waiting for it to happen.

Being at the facility, I soon realized it would allow me to run some errands for the sake of my friend.

After twenty or so minutes, Loki stirred in his sleep and attempted to shift his position. I had to be careful because I couldn't have him lying on his back - it might jolt him awake.

Slowly I removed my hand from his back and closed the flap with the Velcro enclosure. Taking my time, I extricated myself from the pillows on my lap, but still held them up as if they still were, then slowly lowered them on the mattress. For a few minutes, I didn't move and waited to see what would happen next.

To my relief, Loki simply adjusted his position with the pillows, and the expression of comfort had remained on his face.

Taking the pillows I had been laying against from the headboard, I placed them on either side near his back, just in case his next shift was in one of those directions.

The last thing was to get off the bed without disturbing him. However, the bed was large and the mattress was firm - as I got closer to the edge, my motions became more isolated with less chance to wake him.

As I made it off the mattress, it suddenly occurred to me...

Loki was sleeping in a king-sized bed.

Somehow I wasn't surprised and couldn't help but smile to myself.

Then I took a moment to take in Loki's quarters.

They were very well kept but rather spartan. There were a few chairs for lounging along with an entertainment unit for a living area, a computer console on a desk with an office chair as a work area, a table and chairs for dining along with a basic kitchenette and of course, there was the bedroom.

I looked forward to seeing these rooms in more detail upon my return, as well as locating the washroom.

Before I left, I wrote a note. While I hoped my friend would only awaken when I returned, as he'd have to let me back in, if he did before then, I knew how he'd fret, thinking he'd done something wrong if he found me gone without having said goodbye.

****

Just as I closed the door of Loki's quarters quietly behind me, I ran into Blitz, another member of the Initiative.

"Princess?" he looked at me with pleasant surprise. "You sure came quick."

"Well, Loki needed me..." I began to explain. "Wait, did you just call me 'Princess?'"

"Yes, I did."

"Why?"

"Loki and Thor are both princes from Asgard, weren't you aware of that?"

"Well, yes, but, I don't see the relevance. I'm no princess - far from it."

"Well, others would tend to think differently. Like... the person who resides in the quarters you just left."

"Blitz..." I said, "I appreciate the flattery, but, I don't have time for this right now, I have to go find Doctor Lowenstein."

"Is Loki all right?"

"He's fine, considering what he's dealing with. At the moment he's sleeping peacefully. I just have some questions to ask."

"Well, when you're done, feel free to join us at the cafeteria, we should be there for a while."

"Thanks," I smiled. "I will. I was going to go there afterward so I could get Loki some supper."

"Then see you later, Princess."

****

When I got to the Med Centre, I was glad to find that I didn't have to wait too long for Dr. Lowenstein to see me.

As Loki's friend, but also an advocate for his health, I had to find out if there were any pain management options for him. My question wasn't just to learn if anything could be done to alleviate the uncomfortable side-effects that came from his current regime of treatments, but perhaps something could be made available for future use - if it ever became necessary.

Sadly, what I suspected was true, there wasn't much that was available or would even be effective.

However, Lowenstein reminded me that Loki had a faster ability to heal from most injuries. This was their first situation where these micro-tech were preventing him from healing properly.

"When you do finally neutralize the micro-tech, do you know what will happen next?" I asked.

"We theorize that once they permanently malfunction they will detach themselves and naturally pass through Loki's body."

"Do you have any idea if they will degrade if that happens?"

"At this point no. This is all new to us, so we're trying to find out as much as we can with the tools that we have."

"I understand, but if they don't degrade that's going to be downright painful for him. You have to come up with some other options."

"Beverlee, we're working as fast as we can on this."

"I know," I relented, giving Lowenstein a sympathetic smile. "It's just..."

"I know." Lowenstein smiled at me. "And he's lucky that he has you to speak up for him."

With how things stood, asides from letting the professionals figure this out, there wasn't much else I could do.

Well, there was one thing.

****

Leaving Med Centre, I was making my way to the cafeteria when I ran into Thor.

"Beverlee," he said with a smile, then put a hand on my shoulder, "how was your visit with my brother?"

"Fine," I replied, looking up at him. "While I was able to raise his spirits, it worries me to see him this way."

"You've seen Loki not at his best before, so how is this any different?"

"He really got hurt this time..." I said with concern. "Look, I know it was Loki's decision to join the Initiative, but I did have some influence nudging him in that direction. But, in truth, maybe he didn't really have much of a choice at all... I know he's had a great track record in helping the team succeed, and whatever injuries he sustains, it seems like he simply dusts himself off and is ready for the next round. But seeing THIS happen... what if the next time it's worse?"

"Then it will be worse," Thor said as a matter-of-fact. Upon seeing the incredulous look on my face, Thor continued, "Beverlee, my brother may be the God of Mischief and the ultimate trickster, but he is also a warrior. He, like myself, understands what is involved by walking such a path. It is very sweet that you are concerned, but you have no need to harbour any guilt. Your 'nudging' gave him purpose and to feel needed. And not once have I seen him complain or act otherwise being part of this team. On Midgard, you have a saying, 'wait till it's broken then fix it.'"

Even though Thor got the adage wrong, his words actually made more sense in a certain context.

When Loki came to Midgard he was broken in many ways, but once he met me, then joined the Initiative, he found the means to become whole.

Thor was right.

There was nothing to fix here.

"Thank you, Thor," I smiled gratefully. "Are you heading to the cafeteria?"

"Yes, I am," he replied. "You?"

"Yes."

"Chef is serving something called a 'Beyond Meat' steak. I'm curious to try it."

"Sounds good to me. Let's go."

****

I had a great time dining with the Initiative. While Thor and I feasted on a delicious Beyond Meat steak, I was able to catch up on the team's adventures. Then, of all things, they asked me about mine. This pleased me to no end, as not many ever asked or were interested.

What also pleased me was how they spoke of Loki. They were just as concerned as I about his condition, and it was easy to see how much they missed him. I promised I would give him their regards.

****

Approaching Loki's quarters, I was now carrying a couple of bags and had a big smile on my face. Again I stood by his door waiting - then as before, it opened within a few seconds.

Entering the room, I saw Loki was still in bed, sitting up, looking better than when I had first arrived. Before going over to him, I placed one bag on his dining area table, then carried the other to the bedroom and dropped it at the foot of the bed.

"Please tell me you got some sleep while I was gone?" I asked, climbing up on the bed to sit by him.

"I did, but... Beverlee, why did you go?" Loki asked with worry, taking my hand. "I saw your note, but..."

"I needed to take care of some things... and one of them was," I pointed at Loki, "to get this guy some supper." Giving him a warm smile, I then touched his arm, "come on, let me help you get out of bed. I've got a few pieces of good news to tell you."

As Loki sat down on one of the dining chairs, I took a pillow from the bed and placed it behind his back to help him feel more comfortable.

From the bag, I pulled out a few containers of food, some cutlery and napkins. Then I sat in the chair adjacent to him.

"I got you some beef stew," I said, handing him a fork. "You need something hearty and to keep up your strength."

"Thank you," Loki said, as he took a few bites from the container. "You're... not eating?" he asked, as he noticed I hadn't taken anything out of the bag for myself.

"No, I already ate with the Initiative," I replied.

"Oh," he acknowledged, with downcast eyes. "Was... Thor there?"

"Yes, he was," I replied, then reached and put a hand on Loki's shoulder. "He... and they all wish you well. You are missed."

"I... miss them too."

"Don't worry, you'll see them soon," I assured. "Are you ready for some good news?"

"Right now, I could use all the good news I can get."

"Well, I spoke with Lowenstein, and he's rescheduled the times for your treatments so... I can be there."

"Really? Y-You didn't have to do that," Loki said quietly, with a small smile. "I could have got by on my own."

"But the thing is... you don't have to."

Loki put down his fork, then took both my hands and held them. "You said a few pieces of good news. There is more, yes?"

"Yes," I nodded, excited to tell him this next part. "I figured out how we can still be in the show, whether or not the micro-tech is extracted."

"How?" even Loki was excited to hear this idea.

"We cheat."

"We what?!" Loki raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"We cheat."

Loki gave me a hard look, then said, "okay, who are you and what have you done with Beverlee?"

I laughed, then said, "Loki, think, remember our time in the corn maze? We'll have to change things up a bit for the routine, but if you can employ a duplicate of yourself, you... we... can still honour our commitment."

Loki lifted our clutched hands and kissed them.

"My clever girl, you have outdone yourself."

"Well, remember... I'm also your Apprentice of Mischief. But wait, there's more," I said with eagerness. "Because we need to rework the routine, I contacted my workplace - as of now, I'm taking the remainder of my vacation days so we can get it right."

Loki's face beamed with ecstatic happiness.

And it was contagious, I was now grinning from ear to ear.

"Beverlee... please, stay the night?" Loki asked.

Releasing one of my hands from his, I reached up to caress his cheek. "I'd love to," I whispered, then with a glint in my eye, added, "by the way, when you finish that beef stew... I brought us... chocolate pudding for dessert."

Loki took my hand that had been caressing his cheek, then kissed my wrist.

"I don't deserve you," he said softly, with a mischievous smile.


	24. On With The Show

December 21, 2018. Hamilton House Orphanage Auditorium. 6:45 pm EST.

Those who are residents of Winnipeg would know what a social is. It's a fundraising party, often for a wedding, charitable or community organization. Usually held at a community centre or a Legion hall, there would be music and dancing, liquor, food, raffles and draws. Well, the way they had set up this auditorium, it reminded me of such an event, but with some subtle differences.

Instead of the long communal tables that were rectangular, they had round tables with festive tablecloths. Each table was stocked with some chips and pretzels on a paper plate. There was to be no alcohol served because children would be present - although they did have a bar in the far corner of the room, offering a variety of 'mocktails.' The food served was buffet style on a couple of long tables located at the back of the room, featuring items like sausage, other luncheon meats, rye bread, pickles, cheese and salads.

Displayed on tables on one side of the room were the raffle prizes, which were donated by local companies. Ticket takers at the door were selling tickets for the raffle.

As several groups of people entered the auditorium, popular Christmas tunes played from the audio system, and the lighting was somewhat dimmed for ambiance.

Loki and I had to have a look around this area because how our routine now started, it would not be able to be done from the stage. And what they had set up for one was simply fantastic - it was a long covered stage, with shiny red and green curtains on either side to create 'wings.' One of the wings hid a door on the right, which led to a 'green room' where the performers would take their turns in which to emerge.

We acted nonchalant around the people as they took their seats around the tables, pretending we were attendees to watch the show.

After figuring out where we needed to be, we slowly made our way up the stairs to the stage and opened the door to the green room. Many of the talent were already there, sitting at tables and chairs that had been provided. There was also a table set up with cold drinks, along with a tea/coffee service.

As we entered, Lewis Barry came up to us.

"We have some news, which you can either take as good or bad," he said to us. "Two of the acts, couldn't make it. We've all been given a few extra minutes to stretch our routines. Does that work for you?"

Loki looked at me then back at Lewis, "I'm sure we can manage something," he said, with a benign smile.

Seating ourselves in the corner of the room, I slipped my arm around Loki, "are you okay?" 

The walk through the auditorium couldn't have been conducive for Loki's back due to the embedded micro-tech.

"I'm fine, Beverlee," he replied, allowing himself to lean on me a little. "I didn't realize how big that auditorium actually was."

"Well, you can keep off your feet for now," I pointed out. "If you need anything, I'll get it for you."

"I just need you, my clever girl." He lightly kissed the top of my head.

We soon got word that the show was about to begin...

Kelly, who had helped at that first rehearsal had now returned. Moving between the wings and the green room, her role was to inform each of the talent when one act ended and the other was to move along and get on stage.

Loki and I got comfortable, it was going to be a long - but fun - night.

****

While we were waiting, we talked with some of the acts. It was exciting to learn we were playing to a full house! So far, from what we heard, everyone was enjoying themselves - both acts and audience.

When we got a quiet moment, I pulled out my smartphone. I was curious if anyone had posted anything on YouTube, Twitter or Instagram about the Stark Gala. Technically, it was still early in the evening - all that I could find posted at the moment were two videos. One was of poor quality, someone had taken a panoramic view of the celebrities arriving along with a shot of the crowds...

I couldn't be sure, but I thought I saw Matt Damon in one of those crowds.

The other video was curiously entitled, 'Thor Stark & Paparazzi.'

Loki took a look at the screen and scoffed, "you know they will most likely mention me in some unkind way."

"You don't know that," I countered "If they are smart, they will focus on the cause, not what caused it." I put my hand on his arm, "if either of them says anything unbecoming, they are going to hear about it... " I thought for a moment, "well, Thor anyway."

Loki sighed, "as you wish."

I pressed play.

A reporter for some online entertainment network was asking them questions. It seemed to be straightforward, about what they plan to do for the holidays, any traditions they upheld, and what the gala would feature for the attending guests.

But then it took a turn.

"Thor, how does it feel that it was your brother Loki that instigated the Battle of New York causing major damage to Midtown Manhattan?"

"How would you feel?" The God of Thunder countered.

"If it wasn't for him, Tony Stark wouldn't be having this gala," the reporter replied.

"Maybe not this one," Stark said. "But I'd certainly be having a gala... I even like the word, ga-la..."

"Many people suffered that day..." the reporter tried to push.

"I thought we were promoting my gala," Stark cut her off. "You know this party that brings in donations that I match, that helps those less fortunate. So if you have another question I suggest you cut to it."

"Do you truly think Loki has paid for his crimes?"

Thor looked incensed, but Stark touched his arm, muttered something that sounded like, "let me handle this, Point Break." Stark turned to the camera, "more than ten years ago, I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. I am just as much a criminal as Thor's brother. But after my abduction in Afghanistan, I had my eyes opened. I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up. And look where I am now, having a gala and talking to you, a judgemental journalist! Sweetheart, haven't you heard about stones and glass houses? Why can't Loki be afforded the same opportunity? In any case, this interview is over. Oh look, Thor, Wired Magazine is here!"

The video ended.

Loki and I looked at each other.

"I... don't understand," Loki said thinking. "At that time, I... he..."

"Loki, it was a different time back then... it appears Stark has been soul searching... just like you."

"Do you think Thor told him about me?"

"About your role in 'Special Ops?' I can't see him revealing that... maybe the odd word or two over coffee, perhaps." I took his hand, and smiled at him, "I mean he knows you currently reside here, so he must be curious, wanting to... well, to make sure history doesn't repeat itself?"

"I would very much like to see him again and tell him that myself."

"Well, I hope I can be there when you do."

*****

Where did the time go? It seemed to fly by with all the wonderful acts, and it was now Lewis Barry's turn on stage, meaning we would be next!

As Barry wowed the masses with his family-friendly Christmas-themed comedic act, a 'mad-scientist' creating crazy inventions for the holidays, Loki and I made our way surreptitiously to the floor so we could be ready when it was our turn. Reaching the area we had chosen as our mark to start, a place that was behind the audience, I found an empty chair and got Loki to sit so he would be comfortable until Barry finished. After making my way back to the stage, I stood in the wings, waiting.

From my position, it gave me another opportunity to listen to Barry's monologue. Even though I had heard most of it during that rehearsal in October, it was fun to hear it again with reactions from the audience.

"I only know one Hanukkah joke, so bear with me, I want to make this count..." Barry said with a wry smile, "Miriam goes to the post office to buy stamps for her Hanukkah cards and she says to the cashier, 'may I have 50 Hanukkah stamps?' The cashier says, 'what denomination?' Miriam says, 'oy vey, has it come to this? OK, give me 6 Orthodox, 12 Conservative, and 32 Reform.'"

To me, it wasn't a bad joke as far as Hanukkah jokes went.

Then I recognized the part of his monologue I had heard during that rehearsal in October. This was the last part of his act, doing some quick-fire jokes, that were more directed for the kids:

"Why is it always cold at Christmas? Because it's in Decembrrrrrr.

How did Santa describe the elf who refuses to take a bath? He's elfully smelly.

What happened to the thief who stole a Christmas calendar? He got 12 months.

What does Santa do in his garden? He hoe hoe hoes.

What kind of music do elves listen to? Wrap.

Why are Christmas trees like bad knitters? They both drop needles.

What do you get when you cross Santa Claus with a detective? Santa Clues.

Thank you - happy holidays to you all!" Barry said, loud and proud, ending his performance with a bow.

It was our turn now - and we didn't need any introduction. Everyone knew by this time, along with the programs that had been put on all the tables - this was the final act.

Once Barry left the stage, the lights dimmed even lower - then the music started. It was loud - loud enough to get everyone's attention, but not the kind to scare young ears. It had a booming bassline with a drumbeat that played for about twenty seconds, then it kicked right into the song...

I took my place on the stage, I was wearing a shimmery outfit of an acrobat, and then Loki, or should I say a duplicate of Loki, appeared on the stage next to me, dressed in the red suit jacket of a circus showman with a black top hat. 

As the song played we danced the new steps we had rehearsed - while around us the stage transformed into a circus. Animals appeared; horses, lions, elephants... there were realistic fire effects. Then for a moment, Loki even had me levitate with a twist and spin. It was the greatest show!

Everything seemed to be going pretty well when suddenly I noticed the crispness of the image of our circus was slowly degrading around me - even the animals seemed to be flickering...

To execute our new routine, we had planned that Loki would be hidden from the audience, start the illusion, keep adding to it while slowly making his way back to the stage where at the end of the performance I'd meet him stage left (our right) - then together, we'd take a bow.

But as I could see, something had gone quite amiss...

Worried, but continuing to dance like this was all a part of the routine, I began to look for where Loki was. At this point, he couldn't be that far away.

Finding him by the stairs, he was stepping back up onto the stage. He appeared fatigued and had a pained expression on his face.

When we practiced, he never seemed to tire like this. Had his determination to do the show make him mask this from me, or was it the micro-tech somehow causing this?

Right now, it didn't matter. Loki was in trouble - I had to do something.

Despite how the illusions looked at the moment, they still appeared top notch for those who didn't know what was happening.

I improvised a dance move that quickly got me over to stage left.

When I found Loki, he was bent over in pain and holding onto the wall for support - yet he was still casting these illusions.

"Loki," I whispered, getting closer to him. "What's wrong?"

"Beverlee," he whispered back in a desperate tone. "I don't know... My magic is being stifled... Is it possible the micro-tech is responsible?"

"I don't know, but it seems the only logical answer."

Nearby, I saw a chair, most likely used as a prop for one of the previous acts, or perhaps for Kelly who was now on the floor with the audience. I pulled it toward my friend and had him sit down.

Standing behind him, I gently hugged his neck, "just a few more minutes. You can do it."

"I can feel my strength diminishing as I continue to cast..." Loki breathed. "I don't know how much longer I can hold the illusion... I don't want to disappoint anyone..."

Lightly kissing the top of Loki's head, about to offer more words of encouragement, I suddenly heard a familiar sound behind me, followed by a familiar voice.

"Then don't."

I turned around...

It was Doctor Strange.


	25. Making Good

Doctor Strange had emerged from a portal. As he walked over to us, the portal closed behind him.

"May I offer my assistance?" he asked.

"You can help him?" I asked with anticipation.

"Only if he wants my help," Strange replied. "All he needs is to ask for it."

Closing my eyes for a moment, I sighed heavily. While I was grateful the Mystic Master had arrived on the scene to help, I wished he would have delivered his words better. I did, however, suspect he deliberately said it that way, considering who he was, to show some air of superiority. 

In doing so, I thought it a jerk move on Strange's part that Loki didn't deserve - to make him beg for the Mystic Master's help. But, after another few seconds of thought, I soon realized this was not the situation. Despite how it was said, Doctor Strange had simply made his meaning plain. 

It was just like the time when we had breakfast at the Sanctum, and Strange and Wong wanted their teacups refilled. I can only hope Loki learned from that moment and understood now what he needed to do... 

"Please," Loki said, his voice strained, "Doctor Strange... I could use your help."

Bingo.

"Then you shall have it," Strange said. "I'll need you to stand up."

I helped my friend to stand, then Strange stood behind him. Placing a gentle hand on Loki's back, in a sotto voice he said, "I can remove those things quickly, but you would suffer greatly, so in lieu of a sedative..." 

He pushed Loki in such a way to make him lurch forward. My friend now appeared unconscious, his arms dropped to his side.

Turning to look at the stage - I noticed the illusions had now vanished!

Come on Strange, I said to myself, I know good work takes time, but whatever you're doing please hurry!

In what seemed like seconds, Strange's hand had passed right into Loki's back, retrieving the micro-tech spheres like magic, although that's exactly what it was. Suspending the spheres into the air, he observed them curiously.

"Chitauri," he said with a frown.

Opening a small portal, he dispatched them through it, then closed the portal right away.

Strange then yanked Loki back. No longer unconscious, his eyes snapped open...

"What..." Loki said in a bit of a daze, "what did you just do to me?"

"I pushed your astral form out of your physical form, to get rid of the micro-tech. Now go finish the routine," he smiled, gesturing to the stage.

Loki looked at Strange with astonishment. "Thank you," he uttered, with a hint of a smile. "But I think... another routine is now in order. Please... remain here."

Taking my hand, Loki and I walked onto the stage, stopping when we got to the middle of it...

The audience began to clap and cheer.

We took a bow.

As we raised our torsos, I noticed a gleeful smile appear on my friend's face. He slowly put a finger to his lips in a gesture to hush the audience.

Considering what they had just seen with our act, it came as no surprise they quickly became quiet 

At this very moment, Loki had just proven without a shadow of a doubt, why he was a Dramatic Arts Major, which I also suspected he had earned with honours. Even employing a duplicate, he showed a strong stage presence. And now he had this Midgardian audience in the palm of his hand.

And this was HIS moment - words alone couldn't describe how happy I was for him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys of all ages... " Loki said in a commanding voice. "Perhaps you've have seen it on television and in movies... wizards duelling... but have you ever witnessed one personally?"

Turning to me, he took my hand and kissed the back of it. While doing so, he made a certain gesture with his eyes toward the wings.

Smiling, I knew what he wanted, and this assistant also thought it was a grand idea. Walking off stage, I made my way to Doctor Strange then took his hand.

"What are you doing?" Strange asked, confused.

But his confusion was cleared up just as soon as he asked.

"Please welcome a fellow magician to the stage, Doctor Strange!" Loki said, turning to face the wings and began clapping.

"He's not serious?!" Strange asked.

"Yes, he is," I replied with a grin. "Now don't let that diner experience throw you..."

"Oh... all right," Strange acquiesced. "Lead on, Beverlee."

As I brought Doctor Strange on stage, more clapping ensued.

Loki smiled at me and bowed, and I smiled back.

Turning to leave, the Mystic Master took my hand, kissing the back of it.

Doctor Strange surprised me, as I was used to Loki engaging in that rare gesture but no one else.

But I suspected Strange did it for two reasons. One, to be polite, and two, to pretend to psych Loki out by 'hitting on me.'

Giving Strange a polite smile, I then, with concern, turned to look at my friend.

But Loki didn't seem bothered by it, in fact, his smile increased. He proceeded to criss-cross his arms across his chest and hug them.

Acknowledging his sweet, silent message with a nod and soft smile, I then left the stage - but stayed in the wings. Taking the chair Loki had previously sat in, I moved it as close I could to get the best view, as I was about to witness a performance of a lifetime...

Now, this wasn't duelling as in fighting, this was a moment where both 'wizards' were attempting to outdo each other with their tricks. With it being the holiday season, Loki suggested they go with the theme of gifts for kids - as it is better to give than receive. And perhaps to help those in the audience for last-minute gift shopping, for their loved ones, but also for those who wanted to donate to the orphanage.

Loki started with conjuring the images of dinosaurs - the plastic variety. He moved them around and making certain sounds while having them spar with another.

Doctor Strange then conjured up cars - little diecast ones, painted in shimmery metallic colours, then created a twisted track for them to race.

Loki then created an image of an easel with paper and paints, with a brush floating in the air painting an image of some creature that was scaly and had big antlers.

Doctor Strange followed with an image of a doctor's kit for kids, starting with a medical bag and several items emerging from it; stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, thermometer, otoscope, and syringe. He said with a wink, "please use responsibly!" which got a laugh from the adults in the audience.

Loki briefly looked toward the wings at me, smiled, then conjured several popular book covers aimed at kids. When I saw that, I couldn't help but be touched.

They continued on this way conjuring many other items - there were different stuffed animals, a baseball and glove, dolls, modelling clay, DVDs, and more.

Then Loki said, "but I believe there's something else, something both kids and adults would enjoy..." and proceeded to conjure a large action figure.

It was of Thor.

The crowd clapped and cheered.

Not to be outdone, Strange conjured one of Iron Man, which elicited more clapping.

Each of them took turns choosing an Avenger, and the crowd was going wild!

There was a moment when Strange conjured The Hulk, which seemed to have brought a brief expression of alarm to Loki's face - but he quickly recovered then conjured the last of the Avengers, Spiderman.

Loki looked like he was about to wrap up the evening when I noticed he got that familiar blank look on his face.

Who could this possibly be that he recognized on his 'radar?' It seemed the notification caused him some confusion as he searched the crowd.

Then I saw Doctor Strange move over to Loki. He whispered something to him, then carefully pointed in a specific direction. When Loki's eyes locked on whatever it was, his confused expression became one of apprehension.

"Well done, Reindeer Games!" a voice called out from the crowd.

What was going on here?

I had to find out for myself - I got up from the chair and made my way back on the stage. Loki took my hand and said to me, "it appears we may have both gotten our wish."

I looked into the crowd.

Standing at the back of the tables, clapping, were... Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Thor, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton and Bruce Banner.

The Avengers.


	26. Upstaged And The Unexpected

What could have brought the Avengers here? Loki didn't commit any crime or break any rules...

The only thing I surmised was it must have been the duration of time we had been here. Anyone monitoring Loki's tracker may have found it quite odd, to say the least, that he was at this kind of location for several hours.

In hindsight, maybe we should have told Coulson, to prevent something like this happening... but we couldn't risk anyone from finding out we were doing this, let alone have it revealed that that the person who had proverbially charmed off the pants of everyone tonight was actually Loki, that guy who was behind the Battle of New York.

Thanks a lot, Avengers.

However, as the attendees soon took notice that these heroes were in the same room if there had been any thoughts on making that connection, those were now quashed. Everyone was enthralled by the Avengers and cheering.

Taking away the spotlight from Loki.

Thanks a lot, Avengers.

I suspected what was going to happen next.

Ruth Gallagher emerged from the crowd and asked the Avengers to go up on stage.

As they approached, Loki and I looked at each other.

"I know what you did," I reminded Loki with a sympathetic smile. "Own it."

"WE did, Beverlee," Loki corrected, returning my smile. "You own it too." Loki then turned to Doctor Strange and extended a hand, "it was a pleasure, thank you."

"The pleasure was mine, Loki," Strange said shaking Loki's hand. "And thank you for inviting me to join you."

The Avengers were now on the stage. We were about to leave when Thor stopped us.

"Where are you two going? This is more your stage than ours," Thor said and ushered us back up to the front.

Ruth Gallagher walked up to the stage and pulled Loki and I aside, "I know who you are Loki," she said in a dispassionate tone. "I suspect if you had told me the truth yourself, I wouldn't have allowed you to be a part of this show."

"I'm sorry..." Loki tried to say, but Gallagher interrupted.

"But, I saw how you and Beverlee are together. That day, when you came by to see me at my office, I watched you both on the security monitors for a few minutes. I couldn't hear you, but I noticed how kind you were to each other. Immediately that made me eager to talk to you both. I certainly didn't take you for a person who could attack Midtown Manhattan. When that all happened I was in Africa taking care of some business..." She looked at both of us closely, "but when Mr. Stark told me who you were and Thor explained that you're no longer a threat... Let's just say I'm not above hiring reformed criminals. You both did a great job, and you're welcome to return next year... Even that Strange fellow too."

"Thank you," we both said with gratitude.

"After the attendees leave, we've arranged in a special area of the building, a short meet and greet with the Avengers and the children. The kids loved your performance, and they asked, which is a rare thing, if they could see the both of you too."

"Really?" Loki asked with elation.

"Really," Gallagher confirmed with a smile.

****

While the Avengers were still on stage with us, we decided this was the best opportunity to make contact with Tony Stark. We walked over to him and hoped for the best.

"Stark, I would like to talk with you," Loki implored, with a disarming smile.

"Just talk?" Tony asked, almost in a testing tone. "No throwing me out some window later?"

Loki's smile became smug, "not unless... you plan on threatening me."

"Fair enough," Stark chuckled, then gestured with his hands toward the crowd that continued to clamour. "But this doesn't seem the right place for it."

It was at that time, Kelly came up on stage, and told Stark that Gallagher wanted the Avengers to clear the stage and wait in the wings for a few minutes so she could wrap up the event. Stark nodded, then proceeded to spread the word to the team, and they made their way into the wings.

Ruth Gallagher then appeared from the wings onto the stage, bringing out the rest of the talent that had entertained for the evening. Everyone had a chance to take a bow, including us.

The crowd clapped and cheered - it wasn't as thunderous a sound when the Avengers were on stage, but it was still a worthy noise. I could see some people taking pictures of us with their smartphones. It felt kind of surreal.

Lewis Barry asked if he could take a selfie of the three of us with his smartphone. We were keen - as long as he also took one with my mine. This seemed to create a trend, as others were coming over to us to do the same. Again we were surprised and flattered.

Ruth Gallagher then announced the conclusion of the event and thanked everyone for attending.

The crowd gave one more round of applause, then began to make their exit from the building.

Gallagher then directed all of us to follow her.

***

Things were happening so fast. We had just met the Avengers on stage. No sooner had the event ended and the audience dispersed, the Avengers and the other talent got back on stage for a posed picture - which we were promised to all get a copy by email.

After saying our goodbyes to Lewis Barry and the other performers, Ruth Gallagher ushered us to a special area for a meet-and-greet with the children who were residents here.

The meet-and-greet took place on the second floor of the building. It was one of the many floors where the children were housed. We were ushered to a large common room that looked pretty cozy. It had lots of sitting areas, tables and shelves with books and games. On one of the walls was a flat-screen TV.

As we entered, we could see several kids were there waiting for us - and their eyes just lit up! However, it came as no surprise, when a bunch of them immediately flocked to Tony Stark and Steve Rogers.

Despite that, the children were very sweet. We signed things, answered some very curious questions, even dried some tears from a few of them that were nervous. Some of them asked about the other Avengers, like Spiderman and Falcon.

Stark simply said, "well, being an Avenger keeps you very busy. I know they would have been here if they could. But I'll see if I can have them visit you sometime in the New Year, would you all like that?"

"Yes!" They all cried out, clapping their hands with excitement.

"Okay kids," Stark said, "we have to go now, but let's thank Ruth here for putting on another great show!" He clapped and the kids followed suit.

The children were escorted out of the room by a few attendants, most likely to get them ready for bed. Many of them said goodnight to us, and some even snuck out of formation to get a hug from either an Avenger, Loki or me.

Stark got up and started talking to Gallagher. While I wasn't trying to eavesdrop I could overhear bits and pieces of conversation, like "I would have visited sooner," "Do you have enough toys for the kids?" "What else do you need?" "I can get you more than seventy-five." Then I saw him pull out his smartphone.

Loki and I simply had one goal - we wanted to make a difference. Not only had we achieved that, but also through sheer dumb luck, it looked like Hamilton House was going to have another generous benefactor.

I was over the moon at how everything had turned out so well. With these emotions running high, I pulled Loki into a hug. I was so proud of him and of us. As his arms came around me, I could see from the elated expression on his face, which also reflected in his blue-green eyes, he felt the same way.

When Stark had finished talking to Gallagher, he turned to his fellow Avengers and said, "well, we have a Gala after-party to attend."

The Avengers were ready for Gallagher to direct them to exit when suddenly Doctor Strange moved his hands in conjuring mode and opened up a portal to the New Avengers Facility.

Through the portal, we could see some people already there moving about in a large room that had been adorned in festive decorations.

"Why waste time commuting?" Doctor Strange deadpanned. He gestured with his hand for them to enter.

"Thanks for coming," Gallagher said, addressing the Avengers. "You made this event extra special for the kids."

"Our pleasure," Natasha Romanoff responded. "But it's thanks to that guy why we came," and pointed at Loki. "Good job you two," she smiled at us, then walked through the portal.

As the rest of the Avengers walked through the portal, Gallagher thanked Loki and me for being a part of the event. She complimented us on how amazing our routine was. We smiled and thanked her for giving us the opportunity. She was about to escort us out when all of sudden, the sound of Tony Stark's voice made us all turn around.

"Wait," Stark said. "Ruth, they're... coming with us."

"What..?" Loki said with astonishment.

"You said wanted to talk to me," Stark said to Loki. "Well, I... want to talk to you too." He then looked at me, "I mean the two of you."

Loki and I looked at each other. Was this actually happening?!

We then looked back at Stark. The look on his face seemed quite genuine.

"Come on you guys, I'm starving for a Scotch."

"I hope there's champagne," Loki said softly to me, taking my hand and kissing the back of it.

All I could do was smile warmly at him.

Grasping the hand he had just kissed, Loki and I walked hand and hand through the portal, followed by Stark, then lastly Doctor Strange - with the portal closing behind him.


	27. At The After Party

New Avengers Facility. Upstate New York. 10:45 pm EST.

The room in which they held the after-party was roughly the same size as Hamilton House's auditorium. And just like Hamilton House, the place appeared to be another designated space used for public/community events. But what a difference in the setup and furnishings here than from the place from which we came. Here, the sitting areas were not your regular variety of folding chair and tables - this place had some sofas and comfy chairs with little tables beside and in front of them where one could put down a drink or a plate of food. 

Speaking of such, there was a large portable bar in one corner of the room with a long table of snacks at the other.

I couldn't help but notice, with more than pleasant surprise, a jukebox and an area that was designated as a dance floor.

A snowflake motif appeared to be the theme for the festive holiday decorations that hung on the wall and those suspended from the ceiling - it made it feel like we were in a winter wonderland.

And being here with my friend, the Frost Giant, it couldn't have been any more perfect.

As we followed Tony Stark, we could see that a few of the Avengers we had met earlier, along with some other attendees, were staring at us.

However, whatever their reasons for doing so, it was not a bother as we had been invited to this party by Stark himself. And it was gratifying to know Thor was here - who, as we passed, took a moment to smile at us.

Continuing to move along, I soon noticed that Agent Phil Coulson was also in attendance.

In any case, I found myself not letting go of Loki's hand nor he with mine.

Stark led us to the bar, and we all got drinks; a Scotch for himself and two glasses of champagne for us. With our glasses in hand, he led us to an area where we could talk. He plunked himself down in a chair and we took over a sofa.

"So first of all, who's your friend, Reindeer Games?"

Just like when we met Ruth Gallagher for the audition, Loki now looked at me and made a gesture with his hand that I should answer.

"My name is Beverlee. I'm Loki's friend and," I smiled at Loki with amusement, "you could say his life coach."

"Life coach, huh?" Stark said, also with an amused expression. "Well it's not like he couldn't use one. Where were you five years ago?"

"More like... where was she ten years ago?" Loki clarified, looking at me with admiration. 

I chuckled.

"So what's this all about?" Stark asked.

"There was a clip of you at your gala that I... we, saw on YouTube," Loki replied. "You were with Thor. You said some things to that reporter, and... I did not expect to hear you say... such... kind words about... me."

"Oh, you saw that," Stark said taken aback. "Well I meant every word. From what I understand, from talking with Thor, you've been trying to turn things around in your life... just like me." He glanced at me briefly, then back at Loki, "and it appears you've been doing something right."

"Thank you," Loki acknowledged. "I just felt it was important to tell you," he paused for a moment, glancing at me, then turned back to Stark, "history isn't going to repeat itself."

Stark smiled in an odd way and chuckled.

"Loki, while that's good to hear, and I suspect it won't, given the pretty woman you have beside you, I want you to listen to me. Of all people, you don't need to justify yourself - least of all to me. Like I said in that clip, I've done things I'm not proud of either. And then, guess what? I continued to do more things I wasn't proud of... Some of these people in this room weren't exactly happy with the choices I made, but guess what? It's human nature to make mistakes or screw up royally - even when you have the best intentions."

"Yes," Loki agreed, thinking as he spoke. "But not only restricted to Midgardians."

"Tony!" a voice exclaimed in our vicinity. It was a tall blonde woman, holding a drink in her hand, coming over to us, "how did you get here so soon? The jet wasn't back so..."

"Oh, right!" Stark said, pulling out a device from his pocket and pushing a button, "Sorry, Pepper, we found a faster form of transportation..." Stark stood up, and took the blonde woman's hands in his own, pulling her near and they kissed. "Pepper, we have some special guests. May I introduce to you, Thor's adopted brother Loki and his friend Beverlee."

We both stood up to greet her.

The look of Pepper's face was... Well, she went through many expressions, but I couldn't blame her. I suspected several million things were going through her mind as she stared at us - and wasn't saying anything. The silence was deafening.

Taking a deep breath, I attempted to break the ice.

"It's great to meet you," I said to her, extending a hand, "and congratulations on making the Top Ten List of Powerful Business Women."

"Thank you," she said, her face unreadable. Whether or not Pepper was on autopilot with politeness, I was relieved she reached to shake my hand and then Loki's.

An odd look appeared on her face as she shook my friend's hand. I then realized...

"Oh. He's a Frost Giant," I explained, smiling. "So he's the epitome of that saying, cold hands, warm heart."

"Pepper..." Loki said, thinking about the name. "Oh! Is she the one I saw in that magazine while we were in the waiting room?"

"Yes," I replied to Loki, then turned to Pepper. "We happened upon a photo shoot in a fashion magazine. While the focus was on Tony, we saw a couple of pictures of you with him."

"Oh, that," Pepper laughed. "I believe that article was entitled, 'Through a Lens Starkly.' That was... just a crazy day."

"How so?" I asked.

"The photographer... well it's a long story. Tony, why don't you tell it?"

We all sat down, and Stark began to regale us of what happened during the photo shoot. While he was telling the story, I couldn't explain it, but there was something very comfortable about listening to him speak... It almost felt fatherly? I tried not to think about it too much, as I sipped my drink, my hand moving over to hold Loki's.

Apparently, they had been assigned a photographer that was snap happy. They wouldn't stop shooting, not wanting to miss a single moment - until the memory card had been filled to capacity. However, once the card was replaced, incessant shooting resumed - and this continued for a couple of hours. At first, they found it quite annoying but then they just surrendered and had fun with it.

When Stark finished with the story, we were all laughing - and whatever felt awkward between the four of us - well, it seemed to have disappeared.

"Looks like we need another round of drinks," Stark said, seeing our glasses empty.

"Maybe later," I said, briefly turning my head to look at a certain area of the room. "Could we, I mean... I'd love to take a turn on that dance floor."

From the smile on his face, I could see Loki was also keen on the idea.

Upon looking at Stark, we could see the expression on his face had changed to a light-hearted one.

"Me too!" Stark declared, with a twinkle in his eye.

The four of us got up and walked over to the jukebox, which I noticed was a Wurlitzer. Tony pressed a few buttons on the keypad, then his choice of song started to play:

It was Joe Williams' rendition of "Jingle Bells."

I had never heard this arrangement before, but it just set the mood so nicely. As Loki and I danced, we looked over to see Stark and Pepper. They seemed to be no strangers to dancing and from what we could see by their faces they were enjoying this moment.

We appeared to inspire others, as more people took the dance floor - even some of those who had been staring at us earlier. It appeared if Tony Stark was cool with our company, perhaps we weren't so bad after all.

The dance floor also gave us an opportunity to mingle with some of the other Avengers, as we discovered they were also really good dancers.

I knew not everyone was ready to accept this 'new' Loki. I think even Loki knew that too. But it was enough for me, at least for now, that everyone we talked to was civil toward him. I hoped that in the future, there would be other opportunities for my friend to open their eyes.

After dancing for a while, Loki suggested we get some food since we hadn't eaten since lunch which had been several hours ago. It was a good suggestion as I was starting to feel some effects from the champagne.

As we made our way over to the table, Loki suddenly stopped.

"Beverlee," he said with a sweet smile, "there's a Midgardian holiday tradition I'd like to partake in with you."

"Oh, what's that?" I asked with eagerness.

"I'd like to -"

But we were interrupted by Agent Phil Coulson.

"If you don't mind, I need to talk to you both," Coulson said, gesturing us to walk in a different direction from the table of food.

Loki rolled his eyes in annoyance, but I put my hand on his arm.

"I'm sure he won't keep us long," I said, with a sympathetic smile.

Once Coulson directed us to an area where the music from the jukebox wasn't as loud, he again spoke, "Loki, Beverlee, your actions have made quite the impact tonight. Loki, those who monitor your tracker, they just couldn't figure out for the life of them what you could have been doing for hours at an orphanage. They checked all the radio bands, street cameras and social media, but there was nothing to indicate any criminal activity or even a hint of it. No disrespect, but knowing how you used to operate, we had no choice but to send the Avengers to assess the situation."

While I understand Coulson was attempting to be tactful, what he said bothered me. I had expected Loki to be hurt by his words... But when I looked at my friend, I saw something else. Instead of an offended expression or looking aggrieved, Loki was smiling in amusement.

"You flatter me, Coulson," Loki said quietly. "While it's true I still have the means to unleash chaos..." he then looked at me, with a proud smile, "I have my reasons why I don't."

"And it's because of those reasons I'm here," Coulson said. "Loki, when that tracker was first imposed on you, we never could have imagined it would have led us to, well, a time like this. You've come a long way. So in the future, if you'll be doing something like this again, please just tell me or someone at the facility so we don't again make... the wrong conclusions? But, if we do see similar scenarios... we've informed the people who monitor your tracker to give you some leeway. You've earned it."

"Thank you, Coulson," Loki said quietly, with a shy-but-grateful smile.

"I'm curious," I spoke up. "Why didn't you simply track my smartphone?"

"We tried," Coulson explained. "The tracking mechanism seemed to be malfunctioning."

"Oh... Oh!" I said, surprised, but then realized I shouldn't have been. Doctor Strange must have done something when he cast that spell on my phone. I'd have to talk to him later about it.

In any case, I was so happy for Loki and was about to give him a big hug...

When all of sudden, Stark approached Coulson. In an almost inebriated manner, Stark briefly put his arm around Coulson's shoulders. "Phil!" he said in a jolly tone. "While you're here, no time like the present."

"I was getting to that, Mr. Stark," Coulson responded, with some awkwardness. "Loki, if you don't mind, we'd like to talk to Beverlee alone for a moment."

Loki looked at me with concern and confusion, then faced Coulson and Stark stating, "she's done nothing wrong."

"No, she hasn't," Coulson concurred. "Trust me, she's not in any trouble."

"It's okay," I said to Loki, looking into his eyes. "Why don't you go talk to Thor? I'll join you after this."

Despite how Loki normally felt about his adoptive brother, my reason for suggesting it was that I didn't want to leave Loki by himself. While I knew no one here would do anything to hurt him, at present, I still had some concerns that kept me in a state of alert.

"As you wish," Loki said, giving me an encouraging smile, then walked over to the God of Thunder who was sitting on one of the couches nearby.

Turning to Stark and Coulson, I was now ready to hear what they had to say.

"Beverlee," Stark began, his voice now sounding all business, "from what I understand you've been Loki's friend for quite some time."

"Yes, yes, I have," I said with pride and a smile on my face. "And..?"

"And, I believe it was Aesop who coined the phrase, 'No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted,'" Stark said. "What you've done for Loki... well it's made a difference - and not only for him. With that in mind, we think a late Hanukkah but early Christmas present is in order," he turned to Coulson. "Envelope, please."

Coulson pulled out an envelope from a pocket inside his suit and handed it to me. As he did so, he gave me a warm smile.

"My dear," Stark continued, "inside this envelope is something we'd like to call... 'our gratitude.' Starting today, your life gets easier. You now own your domicile, we've made arrangements with your workplace - who I really think don't deserve you - that if you have to leave at a moments notice, your job will always be secure. We've acquired a condo you can furnish how you like when you visit the Big Apple, and, to top it all off, a monthly allowance check, to take care of expenses along with a personal line of credit... compliments of SHIELD and Stark Industries."

I was in shock. It was like winning a Showcase on the Price Is Right. As my brain had barely begun to process this overwhelming gesture, at least some semblance of thought remained.

"And... for all this," I said, holding up the envelope, "what... do you want from me?"

"Nothing," Coulson said. "Well, nothing that you haven't already been doing. Loki is a very special case, and we couldn't be happier to have you be the one taking on that responsibility."

"Loki's not a case, he's my friend." I fumed. "I can't accept this..." I attempted to hand back the envelope to Stark.

"I don't like to be handed things," Stark stated.

"And I don't like being insulted. I don't need to be compensated for the time I spend with Loki."

Coulson and Stark looked at each other and smiled.

"Wait... was this... some test?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Stark said. "You passed. We'd still like you to accept. I mean, we're not expecting you to... Here's what I'm trying to say..."

Coulson interrupted Stark, "Beverlee, please forgive us, we didn't communicate this properly. This isn't about compensation, it's about appreciation..."

As Coulson continued to explain, I began to understand why they were doing this.

For someone to even consider me, even Loki, in such a way... I was really moved and could feel tears welling up in my eyes.

I thanked them both profusely for this kindness, shook their hands - then went to go find Loki.


	28. A Surprise For Beverlee

Still sitting on a couch nearby, my friend was with his brother-from-another-mother, Thor. They both stood up as I approached. 

I took Loki's hands and interlaced them with mine, and gave him an affectionate smile. I turned to look at the God of Thunder.

"Would you please excuse us, Thor?" I asked.

"Of course," Thor replied, giving me grin, then briefly put a hand on my shoulder, "but you still owe me a dance."

"You got it," I nodded. As Thor walked away, I turned back to Loki, "I have the most wonderful news to tell you."

"Could you tell me after a trip to the food table?" Loki asked, with some insistence. "I'm feeling a little weak."

"Of course," I replied, now feeling a pang of regret. "I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting."

"It wasn't the waiting," Loki reassured. "It was the company," Loki winked at me.

I chuckled, "come on, let's go."

As we approached the food table, I noticed each dish and tray had little cards next to them labelled with the type of food it was. Had it not been for those cards, most of these items I would not have been able to recognize. Among others, there was smoked salmon, duck pâté, a variety of canapes, mini quiches, baked Camembert and the delicacy most often served at posh events - caviar. They also had fruit and vegetable platters along with a cheese and cracker plate.

Loki and I picked and chose what looked appetizing, then brought our plates of goodies to an empty couch with a table.

"Hey," I said, as we began to eat, "did you notice something odd about that fruit platter?"

"No, what?" Loki replied.

"There were no strawberries. It's usually a popular item..." I shrugged. "But I'm definitely not complaining. This is some really good fare."

"Agreed," Loki said, enjoying a smoked salmon canape. "So tell me, what is this most wonderful news?"

"Well, from how I understand it, we appear to be quite the interesting pair for Stark and Coulson," I smiled, after eating a pâté-topped cracker. "They've put me on the payroll, so to speak, with some perks, to collect what I can only explain as maintenance payments in an effort to sustain our friendship."

"Maintenance payments?" Loki he asked with confusion. "I don't understand, is there something wrong with our friendship?"

"Not at all," I replied.

"You would tell me if we needed to fix anything between us if there were, yes?"

"Of course I would."

"Then it appears to me," Loki said, thinking as he spoke, now looking troubled, "this arrangement... they're paying you to be my friend." He stopped eating, and his eyes sought mine. "Our friendship is more precious than gold... but I would choose you over gold anytime."

"Loki," I said, reaching for his hand, but he pulled it away, "do you really think so little of me that I would accept such an offensive arrangement? In fact, when they first offered it to me, I flatly refused."

"You did? Then what made you change your mind?"

"Coulson explained it to me like this. They know we enjoy spending time together, but as you know, my life isn't always easy - I have to go to work for a living so I can maintain my existence, which means paying for several expenses each month. There are days I have to take time off so I can get certain errands and tasks accomplished - and that's lost wages that could be saved or spent for other bills. What they have given me... us... is the financial freedom to not have to worry about such things." I reached for his hand again and he now allowed me to grasp it, "and it gives us the opportunity to..." I looked into his eyes, "do whatever we want."

"When you put it that way... that is... wonderful news," Loki said, a small smile now tugging at his lips. "What would you like do?"

"Right now?" I smiled. "I'd like to get back on that dance floor with you."

"As you wish," he agreed, returning my smile.

The song I could hear playing from the jukebox was a popular one and I could see there were a lot of people on the dance floor. As Loki and I were approaching the area, suddenly he stopped.

"That Midgardian holiday tradition I wanted to partake in with you..?" Loki reminded me.

"Yes, that's right... what would you like us to do?"

Loki looked up to the ceiling, and I then did the same.

Beneath us, hanging from a thread... was mistletoe.

We looked at each other.

Loki gazed at me with encouraging yet mischievous smile.

I lightly bit my lip, and I could feel my heart now beating faster. I took a deep breath.

"Umm... we're going to need something to do this right," I uttered, my voice timid. Loki was quite tall and I wasn't as tall as him.

Looking around the room, Loki noticed a green plastic milk crate by the food table. With a wave of his hand, he brought the crate over, then helped me step upon it.

"With what you've done for me," Loki said with mirth, "you deserve to be put on a pedestal."

"Oh you," I smiled warmly at him, "remember we're a team."

"Yes, yes we are," Loki spoke huskily, "and here's to celebrating that team..."

He pulled me close and my body pressed up against his. Putting his hands on either side of my face, his long fingers gently wrapped around the nape of my neck, he slowly, very slowly, leaned in, turning his head to the right...

Our lips touched... I closed my eyes.

His lips were cool but soon warmed upon mine. We held a close-lipped position for a few seconds, then... I allowed my lips to rove. As I did so, his lips would match my movements, almost like two dancers in sync...

He pulled away just a little bit, as to make sure...

And I assured him - kissing him right back.

Then... our lips soon separated.

I opened my eyes.

We had just shared our first kiss.

There was glistening moisture within Loki's eyes, but he wasn't the only one, as I felt moisture within my own.

My hand reached up to cup Loki's cheek. I was about to say something when we suddenly heard the sound of cheers and whistles...

Turning to look, the noise was coming from the dance floor.

We could see the majority of that crowd was smiling at us, some of them even saying, "aww!"

Thor walked over to us and put his hand on Loki's arm. With a silly smile, he said, "Brother, what happened to you here to turn you so soft? Don't tell me it was this woman?" and pointed at me.

Loki looked at Thor with the strangest expression, then his features softened, "oh, it was," he replied in a soft growl, now with an equally silly smile.

"Well, maybe when we're finished here, I can pay her a visit myself... with you. Schedule a day to do pizza."

They both started laughing.

I had no clue what they were talking about, but it was nice to see them like this.

Loki gave me a big hug then helped me step down from the crate. The three of us then headed to the dance floor. While on our way, Doctor Strange approached us.

"Loki, I'll always have my eye on you," Strange said. "But now that I've had a chance to see what you're capable of, especially with Beverlee, I have to say..." he smirked, "'Feels So Good.' Chuck Mangione, 1977."

"Well," Loki responded with a knowing smile, "that's because, I have, 'Someone to Watch Over Me.' George and Ira Gershwin, nineteen twenty-six.'"

Strange gave Loki a look of approval, nodded at Thor and me - then opened a portal and disappeared.

We finally reached the dance floor. The song now playing on the jukebox was another one worthy of a group dance. As I looked around me, it felt like some unlikely dream... Never in a million years would I have thought I would be here, let alone dancing with the Avengers. Who knew if I would ever see these mighty heroes again, but one thing was for certain. When it came to my friend Loki...

I had the right partner. 

*****  
ROLL CREDITS... Cue: Billy Joel's "She's Right On TIme" (End Theme Song)

Turn on all the Christmas lights  
Cause baby's coming home tonight  
I can hear her footsteps in the street  
Turn the choral music higher  
Pile more wood upon the fire  
That should make the atmosphere complete  
I've had to wait forever  
But better late than never

She's just in time for me  
She's right on time  
She's right where she should be  
She's right on time

I'm a man with so much tension  
Far too many sins to mention  
She don't have to take it anymore  
But since she said she's coming home  
I've torn out all my telephones  
Soon she will be walking through that door  
I may be going nowhere  
But I don't mind if she's there

She's just in time for me  
She's right on time  
She's right where she should be  
She's right on time

Left to my own device  
I can always make believe  
That there's nothing wrong  
Still I will chose to live  
In the complicated world  
That we shared for so long  
Good or bad  
Right or wrong

And it occurred to me  
While I set up my Christmas tree  
She never missed a cue  
Or lost a beat  
Everytime I lost the meter  
There she was when I would need her  
Greeting me with footsteps in the street  
I guess I should have known it  
She'd find the perfect moment

She's just in time for me  
She's right on time  
She's right where she should be  
She's right on time

Turn the choral music higher  
Pile more wood upon the fire  
That will make the atmosphere complete  
I've had to wait forever  
But better late than never

She's just in time for me  
She's right on time  
She's right where she should be  
She's right on time  
She's right on time  
She's right on time

_____________________

My Friend Loki will return...


	29. **ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS**

IT TAKES A VILLAGE to write a story, so I give HUGE THANKS to these villagers that have helped me along the way thus far:

Don H. ~ my other half for proofreading and offering advice to help make this and my other stories even better. 

My staunch supporters - grateful for their friendship, encouragement (and their cheerleading)!  
Donna Walker  
Sumi  
Chris Coxson  
Techtra Tronical

coolperson99 (from Twitter/Instagram) was my Consultant on scenes involving horses/riding. They are an accomplished rider and gave me some great tips!

My followers on Instagram and Facebook (my author page).

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) - what a great playground in which to run with my ideas.

The MCU actors that inspire me, especially Tom Hiddleston, Chris Hemsworth and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Stan Lee

New York.  
\- Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises  
\- Queens County Farm Museum

Lewis Barry's jokes: https://funkidsjokes.com/christmas-jokes/ & aish.com

FOR THE READERS:

Thank you for continuing to encourage me.

Thank you to those who recommend my works to their friends and continue to spread the word.

Thank you to those who take time out of their day to read it (and my other works).

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to who have sent me kind and honest words along with kudos - it means more than you know.


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